So, my family and I live in an 84 square meter lot that had a pre-built house on it. It's our first house (and, so far, our only house) and we've been living in it since 1998.
The house had two bedrooms, one toilet and bath, and a space that combined the kitchen, dining, and living room. It had 36 square meters floor space, which was enough for Loida and me, and our four-year-old daughter. There was a generous space around the front, side, and back of the house that was planted with grass and served as our washing and drying area. A small parking space (so small, you can hardly open the car door to get in or out) completed the package.
The biggest disadvantage of the house was the small kitchen, so small it would be more appropriate to call it, the cooking nook. So, one of the improvements we thought about was using the back space as the kitchen.
We thought of using the two meter by five meter space at the back for the kitchen. That meant that the combined space could now be used as a dining and living area, a bit more spacious and comfortable.
Unfortunately, this plan never materialized. Although my salary was more than enough for us to live with some comfort, it would still take us years to save up to implement this extension. So, it never happened (both the wife and I avoid borrowing if we can).
Fast forward about 18 years. Our family had grown from three to five with the addition of a boy and another girl. We still had the same house, in its original configuration (Figure 1). It was leaking in places, and was too small for a family of five. Our eldest had just finished college, the second was just starting college, and the youngest was in Grade VI. All three kids were sharing the second bedroom.
We needed a larger house. Actually, we needed a larger house years before but we didn't have the finances for it. Even though my salary had grown over the years, our decision to prioritize our kid's education by putting them in one of the best (read, expensive) schools in the city meant that savings were not enough. The opportunity came, however, when I retired.
With my retirement money, we decided to fix up the house. The original plan (Fig. 2) would not be enough because we also needed an additional bedroom. The two girls would have one room and our son would have his own room.
But we also needed to replace the roof. The leaks were so bad that the expense of replacement versus repair would probably not be very different. So, I sat down in front of my computer and began drawing. Construction began and the house was finished in a few months in 2016.
Figure 3 shows the house as it is now. Except for a two-meter wide space along the side for drying clothes and a one-meter wide space along the front, we had used up almost all of the lot. We now had three bedrooms, the living and dining areas were roomier, and there was a space at the back for a counter, cabinets, and cupboards.
The bathroom was now a two-by-two meter room. I had originally intended for it to have a dividing wall between the shower and the toilet but the engineer who was doing the construction remarked that doing so would make the space too tight. So, instead of two small spaces, it was now one very large bathroom.
The kitchen, sadly, is still small. I am not an architech and a two-by-two space looked big enough on paper but turned out to be a too small. Loida's unhappy with it and I blame myself for it.
As you can see, in order to get our third bedroom, we had to sacrifice our garage. You can only park on the street now. It's not unusual though. Nearly every house along our street is the same.
So, Figure 4 is the front of the house. It looks very much different from the original (which, unfortunately, I don't have a picture of). Loida has converted the space in front into a sort of conservatory that doesn't have glass walls or roof. In spite of the small kitchen and large bathroom, it's a really nice house. A credit to the engineer who built it, Regie Lumapas.
* * *
Before I end this, I've been wondering if I could have converted the house into a detached house and still have three bedrooms. It turns out, yes, it's possible. The only way to do that is to give up the notion that a bedroom needs to be roomy. If I kept the bedrooms small, I could have enough space for the rest of the house that would still be comfortable. Below are two examples of such a house:
In Figure 5, all the rooms are corner rooms, which enables all rooms to have two walls with windows.
The kitchen is larger than the present one and is in a U-shape. The open end of the U faces the dining table for convenience.
The toilet and bath is at the back of the house and close to the bedrooms. I prioritized the bedrooms for proximity to the toilet. I had thought of putting a guest's toilet closer to the living room but that meant losing the side door going to the washing area. That also meant that there would be only one exit, which seems to be a bad idea.
A shelf near the side door is for storage of everyday items or can be used as a pantry shelf. I originally put another shelf on the other wall but that meant the living area will become too small.
The dining table is a fast-food style table since it occupies a smaller footprint than the one in Figure 3.
Figure 6 is my favorite design. The sleeping quarters are now clearly separated from the living areas and the boundaries between the living area, dining area, and the kitchen can be easily determined. The kitchen is more spacious (should make the wife happy) and includes a storage shelf near the back door (upper left). There's not enough space for a separate pantry but a tall shelf should serve the purpose nicely.
The dining table is the same type in Figure 5 because it's the only type that will fit in the space available and still sit six people.
The three-seater sofa serves as a sort of wall between the living and dining area but it can be turned and placed against the wall for additional space if necessary.
The bedrooms are still minimalist but that's the only solution if you want three bedrooms. The toilet and bath is still at the back of the house and cannot be seen from the living area, a feature that Loida prefers.
The corridor in front of the rooms is wide enough to accomodate a row of shelves for storage of extra bedsheets, bedcovers, pillows, single mattresses, and other items. Another shelf near the toilet and bath serves to store soap, shampoo, extra towels, spare toothbrushes, toilet cleaning materials, etc.
* * *
I could make a half-dozen more designs but I'm probably not going to be building another house anytime soon. I just wanted to see if I could fit three bedrooms into a house that fits into an 84 square meter lot with at least one meter space between the property walls.
As you can see, yes, you can. (",)
