please show dimensions of all the rooms, what's upstairs and what would you like to change? and is the pool in your backyard or the neighbours'?

Upstairs will be 3 bedrooms and a bathroom so we want Bedroom 3 to turn into a living space that opens up onto the garden. That is the only thing really. We would like to have the family room/meals area that is already at the front of the house separate like it is now and the rest is flexible. I hope the dimensions make sense!

Sorry I am trying to work this all out!

I had lots of information with my first picture but they seem to have disappeared and now I have my words but the picture won't upload with the dimensions!

this is what I designed on roomSketcher. Looking for open living/kitchen space, possibly ensuite to bedroom 2 which will become main bedroom. Some office space somewhere, Pantry/Laundry and separate toilet. RoomSketcher wouldn't let me amend bathrooms etc to include all of these.

here is the dimensions

my suggestions has relatively modest alteration to the existing spaces but includes a kitchen with generous pantry and dining area opening to the garden but there's no island, a discreet office space and a small hallway to add privacy and more space to the bathroom and relocates the wood stove to a better position

that is an amazing plan thank you for your ideas

Hi oklouise,

Just one quick thought. Do you see anyway of swapping the living room with the kitchen on your design just for a different perspective? Absolutely love what you have done with the bedroom/bathroom having a different entrance and trying to work out if the kitchen can fit up the other end, to place the living room where it can have access to the garden. Thanks so much for your amazing ideas.

there's plenty of floor space to have the new kitchen in the old living area but that would mean losing the new pantry and having to change the sliding glass doors and more of the structure as there are no blank walls to use for cabinets and there would be so much space wasted walking around a central kitchen ..the reason i suggested the new kitchen in the old bed 3 is because there's a long blank wall, the size is good for standard kitchen fixtures plus a generous pantry, the windows are ideal and there's even a good location for the wood stove with enough space for the two lounges, good sized office nook and dining table in the old living area/ kitchen but, if you can explain more about what you like i'll attempt some other variations but please advise what the floors (concrete slab or?), external and internal walls and windows are made out of, where is North on your plan, how do you plan to use the new rooms and the existing family/meals room and deck and please describe your climate and how you want to use the new garden access and pool

I completely understand why you have placed the kitchen where you have, it would make more financial sense, our thoughts though are having a living area looking out with access to the garden would get used more especially in summer and the other exisiting family/meals is more of a winter room with an exisiting fireplace. I would rather sacrifice a pantry to have living onto the pool/garden area at the back. That is why in my attempt done on roomsketcher I have tried to imagine the kitchen along the laundry, bath line with possibly a pantry heading into the laundry or next to and an island along the living room length but not sure if that would be big enough for a family of 5. North is out the sliding doors. At the moment we have 2 dogs kennels (and 2 dogs) on the deck! and there is a narrow paving space out there which is great for evening meals in the spring/summer and our BBQ. We are happy to get rid of the wood stove as we have a fireplace in the exisiting family area. Ideally (from a planning and financial perspective) we don't want to change the structure of the external doors/windows (especially in the exisiting living area) except for the Bed 3 window to become sliding doors onto the pool area if possible. There would be an outdoor seating space there before the pool.

I am so concerned to get the kitchen size and bench space right as we have wasted lots of money in our last house having a kitchen renovation done ten years ago that was incompatible for a family. We think the floor is wood but it could be concrete. It is currently tiled so hard to tell, but the age of the house would say timber.

another version that needs the northern window wall to be altered ...the kitchen is more basic but if you mark out the dimensions on the floor it should give you some idea of how it would feel but critical issues are the location of the doors into the family room and the size of all the furniture