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We bought a Queenslander a few years ago and we have been in the process or renovating it. We raised it, extended to side and we are trying to make the floorplan work for our family of 5 without loosing the charm and character after all that’s why we bought the house in the first place.
The original Entry
To share the new entry I feel like I need to give a little background.
The extension will house our bedrooms so we wanted to open up the main house to include a more open plan living space. To do that we needed to remove walls with original VJ boards and fret work, the beautiful architectural details.
We removed the wall separating the kitchen and the wall closing off the lounge room. We also opened up an opening on two walls of the master bedroom so this room was now open to the main living room.
The original Floorplan
The New Floorplan
The fret work we removed from the lounge room was then added to the entryway. The hallway fret work (smaller piece) was pushed back to the new opening and we closed off the doorway to the second bedroom, this is now the master and entrance is via the extension hallway.
I have a video below showing the new location for the fret work which helps to explain the above.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4YvGL1ys7X/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
To close the doorways we used the old VJ's from the wall we removed; sanded and stained the floors. We never like to throw anything out, it makes for a messy yard at the moment but there are always moments when we can use the old siding and VJ boards.
Happy DIYing
Claire
Hi @Renowayoflife,
It's great to see the next wonderful change to your home.
I love that you've been able to open things up in the way you wanted and still retain the charm of that original fretwork. Cutting it out and moving it all in the one piece must have been nerve-racking.
I look forward to the next update on the fantastic renovation journey that you're on.
Jacob
hi @JacobZ ,
Thank you, yes it's made a big impact on light and flow within the house. I truly believe you don't have to sacrifice the beauty and features of an old house to achieve your desired floorplan.
It was a little stressful but felt great once it was in.
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