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mattsmith321

Fine tuning 1935 bungalow renovation layout

Matt
2 years ago

Hi everyone,


We are in the process of renovating our 1935 pier and beam bungalow to add a 2nd bathroom and expand the closet space. Along the way we are adding insulation and replacing the single pane windows (and moving them as appropriate to make the layout work).


We have already started demo and there are no dividing walls between the middle and back bedrooms at the moment. Demoing the front bathroom will happen soon.


We are unable to change the footprint of the house and have to remain within the current 1750sf. The scope of the current project only impacts the left side of the house which is where the bedrooms and bathrooms are (~750sf). In the current layout, the bedrooms are very large (for a 1935 house) but the lack of closet space and 2nd bathroom have always been drawbacks.


The current approach is to leave the front and back bedrooms at their current size and squeeze the middle bedroom and front bathroom to get the space for the back bathroom and closet. We are moving the entrance to the back bedroom from directly off the kitchen to re-purposing a window that looked into the addition on the back of the house.


One thing to note is that I am prioritizing the size of the back walk-in-closet to accommodate a large attic access ladder (FAKRO LST) given that we store a lot of stuff up there and want easy access. The drawback is that it is squeezing the back bathroom.


I would like some feedback in the following areas:

  • Closet sizes in the front and middle bedrooms. Right now I have them both at 5'-4" x 2'-3" with double bi-fold doors. The current plan would be to use Elfa shelving with an 18" hanging section + 24" drawer section (centered on the doorway) + another 18" hanging section. That's 60" for the sections and 4" of clearance. I'm debating going up to 6'-4" to get 24" + 24" + 24" sections but I struggle with taking additional space from the bedrooms. In addition, the ceilings are 9' and I want to make sure that I can use upper shelf storage area. At 27" deep, I feel that it will be fairly tight to get much up there and should probably go to 30". I'm also open to making them different sizes since the rooms are different sizes, especially since the middle bedroom is creeping up on the door.
  • Front bathroom width. The bathroom is getting longer and narrower and moving to a three-in-a-row layout. Normally those are only about 5' wide but there were concerns that it is would be too small. So now it is 6'-1" and looking at trying to cram some type of linen closet/shelves at the end of the shower. It feels like it will be too narrow and too deep and either needs to be scuttled or the bathroom made wider. Which then takes more space from the middle bedroom. I would be interested to hear if we should prioritize more space in the front bathroom or more space in the middle bedroom.
  • Back bathroom layout. Yes, it needs a tub. I like the layout in general and think that having the vanity on the back wall and visible from the bedroom is better than having the shower exposed. However, given that I have 14'-8.5" from stud to stud, it is going to be a tight fit to get the tub, switches, door, and closet/attic ladder in that width. I've mapped out the framing and think it will fit but there isn't much/any room for error, especially in regards to having a 2-3 gang light switch next to the door and shower.
  • Middle bedroom size. I keep wanting to squeeze the back bedroom down by a foot or so in order to lessen the squeeze on the middle bedroom. I've been told that I should leave the back bedroom as large as possible to make it more like a master bedroom. I get it. I just don't want to make the middle bedroom too small.

Thanks for any input and feedback. I want to say I'm new here but this post was prompted by a notice this week that someone had liked a post of mine from 10 years ago when we were remodeling our kitchen. I went and looked at the post and it had tons of great feedback and dialogue, so I am hoping for similar results on this one.


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