Floor plans and layout

Hi all,

Looking to purchase a PPOR house next year.


Being an amateur that lacks some creativity and visualization, I would like to ask what home buyers typically look for in terms of layout, flow and floor plans for a house.


Using this recently sold property as an example, 8 Edinburgh Street, Box Hill South, Vic 3128 - Property Details


It looked fine to me. But when I showed my partner, she was asking why would you want a bathroom at the back of the house, having kids walk past the garage at night, what if someone was hiding there?!

What makes a floor plan awkward, what's a flowy design etc.?


Cheers

 

I really think unless you are a professional (e.g. architect) or has awesome spatial awareness, it's a lot harder to tell from a floorplan, and best is to visit the place yourself.

 

Why would someone hide in your garage waiting for a kid to go to the toilet?

 

Years ago there was a stranger in her parents backyard at night. Probably drug affected....

 

Makes sense to associate a past event. In my mind I wouldn't look at that and think it's odd, I mean in my new one you have to walk from one end of the house past the front door, through the dining room to get to the toilet from the spare bedrooms (Below) but with that past event I can understand the nervousness for your wife.



I mean look at it, you need to pack an overnight bag to go to the loo from bed 3

 

It's not uncommon to walk from a bedroom, down a hallway, to get to a bathroom/toilet.

But I'm not a fan of the layout at all.. and you can't really change it cheaply. Having the Kitchen/Dining room surrounded by other rooms seems a bit strange to me.. Having the Kitchen flowing onto a lounge room and outdoor space (like in Dan's plan above) is a much better plan imo.

 

That's not good for kids in the night.

 

A lot of thought is required on such things, first is to know the exact location and position, then looking at actual houses can reveal what is liked, disliked.

Thoughts of the bogeyman do not come into a normal persons thought process for what is practical and suitable.

 

It's easy for me. Just imagine doing different things like: arriving home from work and putting things in your bedroom, arriving home with shopping and taking the shopping to the kitchen, going to the toilet in the night, going from your bedroom to have a shower in the morning, visitors arriving and where do you take them?

In my opinion, the floor plan above fails all these tests. It is very poor and has no flow. To get anywhere from anywhere you pretty much have to go through the dining room, which is not ideal. The toilet is in an awkward place for use by occupants of Bed 1 and Bed 2. The kitchen is narrow, crammed in a small space at the end of the house and not at all integrated with the living area. I see a lot wrong with this floor plan.

I will try to find a nice on an explain what is good about it.

 

I prefer this one


You can unload your groceries into the kitchen, it's easy for the kids to get to the toilet in the night from Bed 3 and Bed 4. The kitchen, dining and living areas are integrated but there are 2 living zones which is good. The master is separated from Bed 3 and Bed 4. I would use Bed 2 as a guest room. If I had 3 kids, I would not use this design.

This is a good explanation of "flow"

Some floor plans are better than others. The best floor plans have a feature called "flow." If a floor plan flows it allows the occupants to move around easily within the home--it's conducive to a comfortable lifestyle.

A floor plan with good flow is laid out in a sensible fashion. For example, the kitchen should be in close proximity to the dining room. If the kitchen were located far away from the dining room, then the dining room probably wouldn't get much use. The space would not be used efficiently and the floor plan wouldn't flow well.
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When It Comes To Floor Plans, Go With The Flow

Does that help a bit?

 

Completely agree . Only me and My wife though, no kids so no dramas for us . I like that floorplan you posted, that does flow nicely

 

Thanks Perthguy, I guess i'll just go to more inspections to get a better feel of things.
feel free to post up any more floor plans that work really well.

Thanks

 

No worries. Just when you do the walkthrough, imagine you are doing different things, like bringing home groceries or a kid from a bedroom trying to find the toilet in the night. I saw one floor plan where a kid in bedroom 3 would have to walk down the hall, through the dining room and through the laundry to get to the toilet. I don't think that's realistic. The floor plan could have been tweaked so that the toilet was between bedroom 2 and bedroom 3 - easily accessible by kids in the night.

 

1. Toilets that open into the kitchen (im pretty sure its illegal to have that)
2. Open plan ensuites where you can lie in bed while also seeing your partner take a dump.

 

Thanks. What do you think of bedrooms at the front of the house? only downside is street noise / traffic... Is it preferred that they are towards the rear?

In the plan you posted up, houses where I am are typically closer to the front and you might just only drive straight into the garage / carport as opposed to having the luxury or space for turning.

 

I like rooms at the front and living areas at the rear that open to a deck.
Allows you to entertain friends while the kids can sleep.... the whole noise separation issue.

 

You also need to consider the sun. For that Edinburgh St place, the bathroom and ensuite are on the south side, so don't hog sunny positions. On the other hand, the garage would block all late afternoon sun. Personally I'd prefer late afternoon sun on the outdoor area and into a living area, as I'd more likely be using them in the late afternoon.

Other positive points are the long garage, and all the wet areas being together, so avoiding the problem of having to run the hot water for a minute before it actually gets hot (assuming the hot water supply is right there too of course). But where's the laundry, and what's with the curved bench in the kitchen?

With @Perthguy's preferred plan, one thing I wouldn't like is the garage opening onto the kitchen working area - don't like others I've seen where the laundry is there too. In my opinion, the working area of the kitchen is the chef's private castle, not a traffic thoroughfare. And there's no door to the laundry, which could be noisy for those watching TV or in the dining area. North is not indicated, so can't comment on the light with that one, but I would hope it's around 4-5 o'clock.

 

Yes, good points! With a door at one end, the kitchen in more like a galley. It would be more functional if we removed that door and used the end wall for more bench and cupboards. Agree too about the laundry. I have not had a close look at the plans. Laundry definitely needs a door!

 

What I like/look for (my personal preference only) - Master Bedroom at front of house (or at least the kids windows not facing the street). This is a security thing for me - I don't want anyone to be able to access the kids rooms (windows) without going through the house or the yard (where I keep a rather large guard dog).
Kids rooms not facing west. The western sun in BNE in summer - it's just way too hot. I want an open plan kitchen/dining/lounge so that I can work in the kitchen and still watch what the kids are doing in the lounge/dining area. I guess I will not value this so much once the kids are older.
Patio/outdoor area - accessible from the kitchen/lounge/dining area - and large opening doors to really create that sense of space. That outdoor area facing North.
I would prefer bathrooms, toilet, laundry areas facing south. I am ok with bedrooms facing south too if no other choice. As long as they are not west.
Prefer garage on the west side of the house so it gets the really hot summer sun (and hopefully protects the rest of the house a little from the heat).

Of course if I was living in a cold climate - my preferences might be a bit different?