nothing is worth doing unless it improves the whole house and any small extra cost of rearranging the pipes would be well worth while to achieve a better result and a kitchen looking out to the courtyard sounds ideal but it's never a good idea to focus on one area at a time and much better to make a whole house plan even if you work on each area separately ..please post a whole house plan with dimensions so we can see how it all fits togther

Hey Louise,

Thanks for the reply and fair point. We are only just moving into the house shortly but the above is what we currently plan. I WFH full time so I will have a dedicated study. No kids but we expect lots of visitors so a spare bedroom.

Overall, we are really happy with the house and wouldn't change much apart from a few small design features (like flooring in the living area). But the kitchen is a bit odd and I could see a real improvement moving it.

Alternatively, we would redo the bathroom as it is and maybe knock a big window into it and a bath. It's a fairly private yard, particularly that courtyard area, so it would make a nice view while in the tub!

Now, as we have just purchased it, we have some spare cash but not bucketloads. And like I said, there are some immediate issues to fix. So really, I just want to know if the idea is financially feasible at all.

Hi Jake, That is a very interesting current layout you have there in your house! A bathroom off the dining area, kooky indeed, haha. Firstly, are you sure there is a concrete slab under the older part of the house? That sounds unusual for the age of the house, also the fibre cement weatherboards - or is it asbestos siding??

Your idea for a reshuffle of rooms is sound enough - the current bathroom looks enormous so plenty of space to play with. It can be expensive to move a toilet, but needs must.

A renovation of this scale is going to cost you a minimum of $50k, but will definitely add value to the house over the long run.

I have a few questions before I put my two cents worth in. Is there a second bathroom in the house .with an actual bath in it?If not, is that something you would like to add- it could just influence layout possibilities. Also, where does northern light enter the house, from the back I am guessing? Is there a difference in floor levels between old house and extension? That could effect where your new dining area would go. Just a FEW things to consider ;)

Just realised OK Louise got in first and you answered my bath question!

love courtyards and always include them in our homes and i will have a think about variations for the floorplan but would expect that swopping the kitchen and bathroom would be likely to cost at least $50,000 (savings and extras depending on unexpected issues with asbestos and any structural problems and what you could do yourself but most costs are for professional labour and savings can be made with DIY flatpac cabinets and modest appliances and bathroom fixtures) but adding a laundry outside the existing walls is much more complicated than inside but long term extending the carport and adding a new laundry/mudroom adjacent to the new kitchen would make a very worthwhile extension but what is the width and length of the block as well as the distance from the outside walls to all four boundaries, where is north and describe your local climate

Hey Larkspur, thanks for the great response!

Actually, you are correct, according to the building inspection:

"The original section of the dwelling is constructed upon a strip "edge beam" concrete footing system incorporating a suspended timber frame (bearer and joist flooring system) with the newer addition/s constructed upon a concrete slab footing system." That original edge beam has had a damp course put in along one side of the building, just FYI.

I actually have trouble telling where the original section ends. The floorboards extend into the 'dining' area (hardly a dining area - you might fit a small table with 4 chairs in there). However, the rear of the bath area towards the courtyard is sided with that same weatherboard type material that's on the extension. I suspect they may have rebuilt the exterior of the bath and laundry area but that it was the original profile of the house.

Regarding the fibre cement. My inspector noted there was a chance such material contained asbestos. But the building approvals attached to the Form 1 were given in the very late 80s / early 90s. As far as I am aware, they stopped making that material in the early 80s so I am hopeful we missed that. There is, however, a small amount of confirmed asbestos backing in the power meter box for example.

As you saw. I am a huge bath fan and would definitely put one in. I have a soft spot for the cedar wood japanese baths but I suspect that's a pretty niche taste and wouldn't add as much value for future owners as much as me haha. The bathroom, even in it's current envelope, has heaps of spare room.

The northern light actually enters the 'bottom' of the layout - e.g. the verandah / lounge / spare bed side. However, we get a fair bit of light in from all those windows in the breezeway.

There is a very odd step down between the dining room and the are marked as living. As in, you jump off the floorboards onto tiling in the living area. As you get to the rear of the extenion, you actually step back up again. Not sure why they did that. The courtyard is level with the lower dining area.

If I had a vision of a great kitchen, it'd be one with a bar running along that wall where the laundry meets the dining area. Maybe that bar would run along the windows to the courtyard too, forming an L shape. And a very functional, big cooking and prep area with a window to the courtyard. So, someone cooking could chat to their buddies and hand them a plate over the kitchen counter, or through a window potentially.

The first house we really loved had a huge walk in pantry, triple insulated. That'd be awesome too but not sure if we would have room for it!

Style is up in the air. We need to live in a bit longer to figure that one out. It already has a nice warm feel and I think we would try and keep that.

Hey Louise,

Yeah we really like the courtyards too. The garden courtyard is quite closed in, I think we will keep that mostly garden. As it is, our indoor cat can run around in there without escaping which is nice.

The main paved courtyard is red brick which we like. We are going to shift some things around as there's some trees and posts which kind of prevent it from being a usable space just now. It was a bit more functional when the previous owners bought it.

I am not really interested in extending the house any more, if it can be helped. Our last place was a 1 bedroom apartment with a laundry in a cupboard so it's a huge step up for us already. We only need room for a washer and a sink to be honest. So I wonder if the laundry could be a 'hallway' sort of installation, running alongside the bathroom.

Likewise, the carport suits our needs well and is pretty substantial and works well with the classic roofline too.

The block is about 15m frontage by 45m deep. The house and carport pretty much run the entire width of it.

There is a large yard out the back, from the rear of the house to the fence it's about 15x15m and we are going to fill it with lots of garden beds and fruit trees ideally!

Me again :D It sounds like a good year of living in your new house is in order before you rip anything out. So many people barge into a period home and demand it meet their preconceived expectations from day one, without a clue as to why things have stayed a certain way for X decades. Houses have plenty to tell us, but it takes a little while to coax that wisdom out of them (I probably sound a little potty, but I am a big fan of the book How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand and the philosophy behind it).

During that time you will see how light moves through your house during different seasons and also if there are any hot/cold spots. As you live in the space, imagine the changes you have envisioned and you will probably come up with more questions and possibly issues, but also answers and more insight about what will and wont work for this particular property.

From What you have said so far, what stands out for me is that you love the atmosphere of your new house and dont want to lose its personality, so my advice is to sit back and get to know it properly - and start saving your pennies!

Hey Larkspur, lots of wisdom in your reply and thank you for that. It is hard to disagree on any point.

As we do have to fix up that big bathroom regardless, I thought it was worth checking if the cost or trouble would be worth making that switch right at the outset.

I will see if we can do a less intrusive fix to begin with, or at least do the small one first and keep use of the big one to a minimum.

It makes sense to move things around as your dining area looks like a walkway with all the door openings, however $50,000 sounds about right for a standard fit out and you providing appliances, tiles, bathroom fittings and the contractor will do the rest. As you are going to move the plumbing anyway try to fit it to where you want it as in where it makes the most of the new layout rather than keeping it close to the original plumbing to save on costs. Congrats on the new purchase and best of luck with your plans.

@oklouise I do so love a powder room. I like that your plan gains a bath and also allows Jake to consider making the other bathroom an ensuite. And the kitchen links to the existing outdoors, which is a bonus. Looking good.

@Aus Joinery Kitchens Pty Ltd Thanks for the heads up! I had another response on another forum saying about 15 - 20k for the bathroom, 15 - 20k for the kitchen, and another 10 - 15k or so for relocating all the services so it's pretty much spot on with your guess too. I guess that gives us a great base to work on.

@oklouise Wow! Thanks so much for plugging that in to your design system. How awesome. I really like the overall design too, not something I would have come up with on my own at all but it ticks pretty much all the boxes.

Not trying to sound like a crazy hippy but we don't actually have a TV so the layout works fine anyway. If we do get one, it'd probably sit in the lounge at the front of the house anyway so it still works fine in that case too. In that living dining room, I may even switch the table and couch location... I have really fallen in love with a window box at the place my parents recently moved into. Great place to sit and enjoy the sunshine. Maybe we could do something similar if the light is right!

i doubt that you're old enough to be a crazy hippy (those of us who were around in that era aren't supposed to remember) but very happy that a TV will not be in the family dining room as it belongs in the lounge and hope that the dimensions are suitable for these ideas