Revised Floorplan Idea

Existing floorplan problems

There are a few things that I would like to change in the way the house is layed out.

1. The stairs from the attic rooms descend into the middle of the dining/family room, which restricts options for furniture arrangement and room use

2. The "ensuite" (second toilet plus shower) entry is directly off the dining/family room

3. The laundry is a long narrow space that is cramped and awkward after machines are installed

4. All traffic between the extension and the original schoolhouse rooms goes through the kitchen

5. The breakfast room could be better used as a mudroom and passage to a proposed future enclosed bridge to the annex. This little used room is a heat sink in winter and source in summer most of the day and night and should be able to be isolated.

New floorplan options

The first change that has been effected already is the reopening of the closed-off doorways in the old school building. They are the external door into bedroom one (originally the parlour), and the internal door between the two bedrooms (originally from the parlour into the main bedroom).

The remaining are possible future changes.

1. The laundry and the 2nd shower/toilet would be combined, still accessed from the current dining/family room.

Pros:

• • More room to maneuver with the separating wall removed.

  • Entrance more discrete and greater privacy.

  • Area below the stairs can be repurposed as a butlers pantry or linen cupboard.

  • The plumbing would not change for any of the facilities.

Cons:

• • Laundry may not be accessible if shower/toilet in use, and vice versa.

2. The breakfast room becomes a mudroom with a sliding or bifold door to create a vestibule at the side entry.

Pros:

• • Enhance "country" look and feel of the home.

  • More storage for heavy clothing and foot wear, which moves from immediately inside the side entrance.

  • Compatible with proposed future house-to-annex enclosed bridge.

  • Sleeping and feeding area for household pets.

  • Reduce the air conditioned space, saving energy.

Cons:

• • No longer usable as a sunny breakfast room although a new annex bridge addition could incorporate one.

3. Removal of the wash basin nook off the main entry hall and the linen/pantry cupboard that backs onto it from the other side to create a passage from the main entry hallway into the extension areas.

Pros:

• • Will open up a vista from the den in the old section through to the dining/family room and reverse that will visually enlarge the interior space.

  • Divert through traffic around kitchen.

  • The option emerges to close off one of the access points to the kitchen, providing more options for kitchen layout.

Cons:

• • A wash basin or two will need to be added to the main bathroom. The bathroom is due for renovation.

4. Conversion of the Dining/Family room to be the kitchen, making the current kitchen a dining/family room.

Pros:

• A lighter-brighter and larger kitchen.

• Consolidate plumbing to a single common wall.

• Direct access to dining/family room from two sides.

• Existing stair direction is more compatible leading down to a kitchen.

• Better separation of activities and movement, ie less cross disturbance.

Cons:

• None.

Reopened doorways in the old schoolhouse

Why reopen the original doorways? Because they are original and they are there, but also to create options for how the rooms are used. They may be configured as separate rooms or they may be combined as a suite with separate external access, etc.