Thanks for the response! Based on what we see it does look like the laundry and bedroom/study at the back was added to the original structure at a later stage. It’s probably one of the areas which is actually more worse for wear. For the original part of the house ceiling heights are relatively stable at just over 3m. Our plan is split into two phases. Phase 1: making the house liveable. Putting insulation, fixing roof leaks, down pipes into stormwater (instead of pooling on the sides). Phase 2: long term value add. Not entirely sure what we will doin Phase 2. The street we have purchased on have seen renovated houses go for 600k+ than what we’ve paid for an old house which requires work. Just wanting to get an idea on what some of the large ticket items which would be worth considering as part of Phase 2 and if that has any impact on the smaller bits and pieces we want to do as part of Phase 1. If that makes sense?

I'd say get a professional to look ( builder or engineer ) . If the back rooms are the worst , it may ( or may not ) be worth doing major work there and enlarge . There is so much you can do , but to get to the standard ( and space ) I suspect you want won't fit easily into the existing 4 walls . But then , that may be the impetus to do even more . . . . . .

The master and ensuite is fine , bed 2 you walk around half the house to get to 'their' bathroom , bed 3 is very small , whilst the outside bed 4 looks like no bathroom , so guests or family have to come inside and almost through the kitchen . And then that back 'foyer' isn't a great use of space .

Basically , more than half the house seems counter-intuitive to me , you could open up between the lounge and dining , but then that doesn't really achieve much space wise . You can start 'swapping' rooms or walls around , but its not that easy ( or cheap ) .

The bungalow -- what is it's construction ? Is it movable ? I'm not saying to do this , but just an example is if you took the bungalow , picked it up , swung it 180 degrees , then placed it at the end of the laundry , did a hallway in front of the laundry connecting to that 'foyer' , and made the workshop the bedroom , it suddenly ( at a fairly big cost ) becomes part of the house . So maybe , or maybe not , or it might just be easier to demolish the back rooms of the house , and rebuild with the back wall 2 or even 3 metres further back , so you have 30 or 40 more sq metres ? But then can the deck move back , does it need rebuilding , etc , etc .

But that is just thinking alloud , because the roofline or the floor or the windows may not be able to be matched . Basically , the more info and pics and engineers reports , the more you will know what you can and can't do -- do that BEFORE or in conjunction with a few design ideas .

Fair enough. Yes definitely will be getting someone in to have a look before deciding on anything. Interesting idea on the bungalow portion however we like that it’s standalone and will look to go through the process of converting the ‘work shop’ part into a bathroom. Just for some more info, the main house is a 1920s weatherboard cal bungalow with tiled roof. It’s been restumped and had a few updates to bathroom and kitchen fittings but otherwise not a lot done to it. I’ll add some photos here too. 1. Standing in the dining looking into the living room. 2. Standing in the dining looking out to the backyard.

That second photo , you can see that whole room ( rear 'foyer' ) is difficult to do much with , and you can also see the joins on the floor --- that doesn't neccessarily mean its an addition , but if it had been extended , then that would be a result .

At a quick look , the lounge/dining wall getting the 'hole' enlarged wouldn't be impossible , and bring more light in -- well , as much as you can call light through stained glass 'natural light' -- it looks great , opening that wall would add IMO .

Hi IdaC,

I had the pleasure of living in a California Bungalow many years ago now that had almost exactly the same plan as yours apart from a few modifications that your house has had. The living and master bedroom were switched and the ensuite was just a bathroom from the hallway. The problem with the house plan is the blocking of the rear of the house by the kitchen wall to the hallway and so the circulation goes around through the dining.

If you want to alter the layout for a more modern lifestyle with good access to the back yard, I would make the living room another bedroom and put in a new long but narrow bathroom occupying some of the current dining room or possibly part of the existing living if you don't mind a smaller bedroom. The new bathroom can be just 1200mm wide having a 1200 long shower against the outside wall with a high window in it and then the toilet and the vanity near the door. Put the plumbing on the new living wall unless you install full length wardrobes on the wall between it and the new front bedroom. Then I'd delete the back bathroom and make that and the laundry into a walkthrough scullery and laundry and keep the outside door. Put a galley kitchen along the central back wall of the house with an island facing a new dining area where your current kitchen is with double glazed doors to the front hallway. Then make the back bedroom and 3/4 dining room, the living room and open that up to the rear yard. Ideally you'd want the living space on the North side of the house and the plumbing areas on the South, but that might be an expense too far. You could build a really great outdoor entertaining space outside the living room that links with the backyard bungalow if that became an overflow living area/man-woman cave!!!! or just a granny flat or office.

If you want to do it in two stages, start by builing the new bathroom and opening up the back bedroom and 3/4 dining into the living room. That way you can start with the three bedrooms where they intend to be. Then you can look at doing the kitchen, scullery, laundry and dining when you are ready and either set up a temporary kitchen in the living space or eat out for a few weeks between when the old kitchen is removed and the new one becomes usable.

Good luck,

Christine.

It's hard to say something for sure, because just to advise something specific here is hard, you need to redo the drawing. And what's more, you have to take into account the light factor and the size of all the rooms. I advise to contact the experts. E.g., I recommend the company boutiquehomeplans.com They made me a very successful house plan, just the way I wanted it. I understand that in this way you`re trying to save money, but it`s better to go to someone who knows how to do it, I think. Although, personally, I think you have a pretty good home plan already. So reconsider. After all, repairs are always a time-consuming endeavor.