New build floor plan ideas - is it too tiny?

[simplepimple]

I'm planning on undertaking a self build bungalow on a very small plot and the planners have only allowed the size in the attached plan.

I appreciate the size is restrictive and am struggling to work out a better layout to try and give a feeling of more space. The bungalow is south facing at the front and can't have any windows on the right hand side due to the neighbours house.

Just wondering if the front door has to be at the front, or could it be moved to the left side of the house if that would give you more options to use the south facing aspect for your most used rooms?

Could you lose the second bedroom and put in a mezzanine floor with a bed in?

Or create a folding door that partitians off part of the lounge if ou have people to stay?

The mezzanine could (somehow) be over the bathroom/built in wardrobes in the bedroom and the hall cupboard?

thinking bathroom behind the hall cupboard and built i wardrobes on the otherside with a mezzanine at about 6 ft 6 or 7 ft with a light well full height hall in the middle of it?

Can you have a mansard roof? That would give you height for a mezzanine above the bedrooms and the kitchen/living area could be double height to make it feel more spacious.

If you just need an occasional guest room, I would make the entire ground floor open plan (no hall) and create a guest "alcove" with a sofa bed (or bed in the wall) with an archway that has either a door that slides into the wall or double doors that can be left open. You can then use it day to day as part of your living area. Why waste space that you are only going to use once in a while?

If you don't mind a bathroom without a window, you can move that to next to your bedroom (my lovely ensuite is only 1500x2500mm) and have room for a small fitted cupboard in the 2 bedroom areas behind it).

If you can put in a mezzanine above the bedroom areas, you could either put a space saver staircase (or spiral) on the back wall, or better, if you can move the front door, next to your bedroom, with cupboards underneath. Depending on the roof type (and height), you could either have a spacious second living area on the mezzanine or a narrower study gallery with cupboards under the eaves.

Maybe think of the house as an empty box right up to the roof and have a look at high ceilinged loft/warehouse conversions with mezzanines for inspiration?

Oops forgot the pic. Something like this?

Newnames is better tbh but I played about with excel

This layout reversed could work, you could lose the wall between kitchen and lounge if you prefer open plan?

how about having the bathroom 'free standing' as room devider in the middle.
master bedroom to the right, guest alcove right corner

newnames idea is very clever creating as much usable living space as possible. I like it.

I have quite a way to go yet and this thread has been so helpful to have great ideas to show the architect the kind of look I'm going for.

I'm starting to believe that my little old ladies bungalow might just become a tiny bit cool and edgy. Exciting!

Think about how you use your rooms - do you get dressed in the bedroom or the bathroom? Could a bigger bathroom with a make up area be better for you with a dressing area?

If so the mezzanine might be your room? With just a bed and some books/ornaments?

Or is not having visitors in your bathroom important then a jack&jill toilet adjacent to your bathroom (1 loo accessed from hall/bedroom?)

We once stayed in a house where the second bedroom was split from the living room by wide double doors. It was perfect as a guest room - you could open up them up to have it as extra living space normally, but close it off for privacy when the guest was staying. I wonder if that could work, maybe attached to an L shape living kitchen diner.

Minimising the hallway is a good idea but I would keep some sort of hallway, or back lobby if your door opens into the living area, just to separate the bathroom and living room.

A very cool project to have!

If you have the second bedroom open to the room maybe one of those beds that fold into the wall rather than a sofa bed might be a more comfy idea

Do you have an architect? If not hire one, they're worth their weight in gold.
If you do - tell him to come up with a better plan! It's extremely basic and poor use of space.
You also need to see the outsides (all 4 sides) and a cut through before you can make a decision really.

I do like new names layout.

If you plan carefully the stairs can be above the bath as you only need to stand up at one end

Or you can use each stair as a drawer (can be useful for shoes)

Architectual advice will definitely be sought Isee though the MN team offer excellent options.

Thank you everyone for your views. It's been a hard time and at one point I doubted I'd be able to afford a house by myself at all so I really want to get this one right. Can't wait till Christmas 2019 when I'll be settling down in front of my log burner and breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Totally different style of building, but the Donaldson development in Edinburgh has a bunch of mezzanine layouts which might be worth looking at for ideas.