I think your first plan is to find a way to get to the pool that doesn't go through the master bedroom or bath. That's just very poor design and fixing that will make your house more saleable if you ever decide to sell in the future. Have you considered redesigning the interior?

Can you post a larger floor plan with measurements. What you have is too hard to read.

@cpartist i dont think it‘s a forever enough house for u to do that, and we’d still being dealing with a relatively small footprint.

Heres the listing before we bought it in 2018:

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2415-Jamie-Cir_Orlando_FL_32803_M50529-70287

@cpartist any better?

Access to pool area needs to route through the laundry room. Any bedroom or office access is problematic.

I like the contractors suggestion to reconfigure master bath/wic area to wall off an outside only entrance to a powder room.
The plumbing is mostly already there.
Floor plan shows possibility of two different door placements.
Depending on where this aligns to the pool area you might want to put a privacy screen if the door opens directly to the pool area.
You could even add an outdoor shower and/or sink allowing the toilet/changing area to be more spacious.

I also like the idea to use the laundry room, but that seems more challenging. It’s definitely more workable and sensible than bedroom access .

Oh my gosh just looked at the realtor listing of your home, it is pretty cool and has so much potential! Good luck with the powder room idea, it's hard to do some of these desirable changes when cost of construction isn't getting any cheaper. Maybe you could switch to a stackable washer/dryer to make more room in laundry area? I would review the laundry ideas with contractor and see what they can offer, then decide.

Can you make the office a bedroom either as is and add a closet on the right end, or bump it out into the large (unused?) end of the living room by about 3’. Then make bedroom 1 into a small office and hall to access the pool and use the existing bath for the pool?

Anne

Are the kids yours, or grandkids? If the latter, how long do they visit?

Can you get rid of the barn doors to the office, put a single door closer to one end, and use the new longer wall at the bottom end of the LR for an office setup?

Anne

@jimandanne_mi one kid thats ours, hes 2. so just talking about him and i guess his friends. we did get rid of the barn doors and have two french doors there. i dont think an office would work there in that alcove with a toddler at home. we really needed the doors.

@jimandanne_mi thats my husbands suggestion, to be honest i dont love it … i feel like the new bedroom/old office is just in a weird spot for a bedroom and oddly shaped. but youre right that might be the easiest plan.

regarding walling off the master bathroom, i feel like i lose 1/2 my master bath square footage in exchange for a bathroom i can only access from outside. doesnt seem work it to lose that much master bath.

If you don’t like the linen closet where I show you could add a smaller one (similar in size to your existing) to the left of the bathroom door as that hallway vestibule space is large and a linen closet there would create a bit more privacy for these bedrooms. I’ll do a quick sketch….

I like the larger linen in 1 but this is probably a cleaner look for your living room (admittedly I haven’t looked at your listing pics - just my guess based on your plan)

If you could move the office wall out – as close to the front door as possible - to make that dimension ~11’+ (LR would then be over 17.5’), and put a single door entrance in this new wall just to the left of the back of the BR2 closet wall, the new BR entrance would be near the other BRs and not be out of place. Then keep the end of the old office wall for the end of the new BR closet ~3’ - 4’ in from the new wall/door (and the rest of the closet along the existing right wall), and you’d have an ~7’+ wide closet in a BR measuring ~11’+ x 15.5’ - a nice size, especially if you need a guest BR for visiting parents or friends. It would be large enough to put a bed at one end and an office at the other.

Where is the pool – opposite BR1 and BR2? Across the entire back of the house? Or???

Do your and your husband work from home? Do you each need a separate office? If you use BR1 as an office, you could keep the closet and existing door, and just add a door to the exterior.

It seems like having kid and visitor access through the new hall to the pool through the new office in this location would be much simpler, convenient, and maybe less expensive than having to come in through the Mbath/MBR or laundry. Once people had showered/dried off in the bathroom, BR2, the new BR, or the new office would be right there to change into other clothes.

Anne

After looking at your listing I think I’d do this (you could get a few more inches in linen closet width).

@jimandanne_mi husband worked from home during covid and we probably need an occasional office but not two and not a fulltime one.

Been thinking more and I like this best (because I’d want the flow from the kitchen to the pool to be more direct). This doesn’t compromise storage at all and allows the office to be off the pool. You could reuse your new French doors too if you like for the new office location.

I suggest one more tweak to that last one to have expanded linen / towel cubbies off the hall to the pool and reduce the guest bedroom closet.

Final Recommendation - I also tweaked the closet location in the main 2nd bedroom.

^^^This was what I was thinking of doing. That would solve the problem of getting direct access to the pool and when you're ready to sell make it not feel like a remuddle but a planned choice.

Well done thinkdesignlive

Yes, this is a very nice plan! But there is a window to the left where closets are shown in the child's room. (check the listing picture of the front of the house)

Anne

Oh poop - well I guess the previous version where the closet was on the entry wall

Here she is:

Just saw your comment upthread jimandanne 😉 you planted the seed

@thinkdesignlive thanks for all your input. do you think its odd having the childs bedroom immediately off the entrance? aside from soundproofing issues when hes sleeping (child is 2yo).

You could add a pocket door to that hallway to the bedrooms to ensure more soundproofing. And yes, extra soundproofing in new wall location is a must.

I think it's a far better solution than what you thought you wanted and it makes the house not look like a remuddle which is what I believe happened with the PO. It will not feel like it's right off the entrance because it's actually "off the hallway near the guest room

Also for now, bedroom 2 could be your child's room and the other one the guest room. In fact in the future, you have enough room to add an ensuite bathroom to what is now the office where the window is.

@cpartist i actually dont think we can bumb out the wall by the front door for the baby bedroom - its currently a cinderblock wall and is load bearing. does that change any of your recommendations?

It’s worth getting a structural engineer out to review what’s needed to move that wall.

And while discussing it maybe ask about 2 punched openings in it vs moving it…this allows for that. I’d shoot for moving the wall per the previous plan as a bedroom less than 8’ wide is really narrow. But, all things considered, if you can get an entrance door to the room in the location shown here then this is worth considering. The dead space behind the hanging in the middle could be boxes of seasonal storage.

Ok I think this is best. One punched opening and makes that small bedroom more functional with a huge walk-in closet that could double as toy storage for now and homework dump zone later. Still predicated on getting the door to the room as shown. Based on the realtor photos your entrance zone seems excessively large so this might be fine. Best to do an overall floor plan of your living room to test it out. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing!

Realistically, with the design and layout of your house, the current laundry room seems to be the only option, unless you build a bathroom in the outdoor space. Is there another place in your house where you could bring in a stackable washer and dryer or a washer/dryer? I don’t know if it is an advantage to take space from the master bedroom. It seems like creating a bathroom and alternative entry/path to the pool from the current laundry room would be a much better use of that space, and finding another place in the house for a washer and dryer might be something to consider.

Possibly a stackable washer/dryer could go in master closet along the guest bath wall.

@thinkdesignlive has done some good schemes. At this point, it seems you have 2 tracks: you add a new bath which should be near laundry, or you just change access to the existing bath by rearranging bedrooms. It doesn't seem like this house is a candidate for full remodel of moving kitchen, living, or building a large addition, so think about your layout beyond toddlers using a toilet when swimming. What is best for long term outdoor living, what grows with you, what is marketable (in terms of what makes sense for that house in that market), what works for your budget (in terms of value for the money spent).

Ok I seem to be slightly obsessed with solving this. I also like this a lot and if your structural engineer says you can get a wide opening then this should be thrown into the mix…

Better shot without the other plan below:

Uh oh, watch out, she brought out the trace paper. Gears are turning!

Haha yes. I’m in my happy place with a fresh sharpie, some graph paper and of course trace

I still think this is the most viable option doing as little as possible while making it work.

this would keep the bedroom in the same place, but take 18 inches from the bedroom and add a closet backing up to the bath. you could keep the bath layout you have or enlarge it as shown.

Karen's solution works very well too and would be the least expensive option.

@Karenseb that does look good also. im not entirely sure if the linen closet door dimensions are the same as exterior door requirements, ill have to check. possible that wed need more room but youre right that its cheaper.

@3onthetree not sure how to answer that … i grew up in many many different houses and i dont know how to tell how ling we woukd stay here - things like the job market etc just seem too unpredictable to say year to year

Any ballpark ideas in cost? 25-50? or am i way off. assuming office wall isnt moved, im sure that would add a lot more to cost.

your bedroom next to the bath is 12'1" long plus your closet is 2 feet = 14'1". I was allowing for a 42 inch walkway, which would make the bedroom 10'7" long.

you could put a linen closet outside the bath if you don't change the bath. I am guessing on your bath layout.

I like it Karen! To make it really cost efficient I’d suggest leaving the bathroom 100% intact. And a pocket door to the guest bedroom will make that tiny room feel a wee bit more spacious.

That looks good Thinkdesign, but I think her bathroom is about 8X8 feet, not 8X10.

That would make the bedroom 8' X8' 9".

@Karenseb @thinkdesignlive @cpartist and everyone this has been very helpful. ill spend some time this wknd seeing what is feasible but the tracings and sketches are super helpful. any ballpark ideas on cost?

Thanks for that room size catch Karen! This adjusts that and keeps 99% of your walls in place. I still feel the key to solving your puzzle is capturing all that dead space off the entry. This gives you a true 3 bedroom for resale (even though you would use that pool access area as an office). You could of course throw up a wall and create a mini office with dedicated hall to pool but I think this might make more sense all things considered. I think this ‘cleans up’ your layout too.