Hi Paul PogBar,

Is the house on stumps or a slab?

it is on slab i believe

what if you knock out the wall between the dining and living room would that open it up a bit? as for the ensuite do you need 3 bedrooms maybe make that small bedroom in a small office and add the ensuite there somehow...

why do you need the ensuite and what do you love about this property? based only on the floorplan i don't believe there's enough space to have an ensuite although, if this is a good house in a great area for a good price the best option would be to add an extension, subject to the usual costs and restrictions but, the ensuite or extension will sacrifice space from the existinhg house and even the example shown outside the house will only work if the side fence is at least 2m away btw your plans and measurements are deceptive because the bedroom next to the bathroom shown as 3.5m x 3.5m is really only about 3.5m x2.7m ... the attached copy of your plan shows some options for adding the smallest possible ensuite (shown as the rounded oblong at 2.5m x 1m) .. an extension allowing enough space to add a master bedroom with ensuite or repurpose existing rooms and add new living rooms with better connection to the garden could be an option but an extension is not cost effective just for a tiny ensuite

i would be surprised to add a very modest ensuite for less than $20,000 and you might be better off considering a house with an existing ensuite for a higher price ..best of luck

I agree with oklouise. There isn't really any space you can steal from anywhere to add in an ensuite.

There's a lot of space taken up by the two hallways, but I'm not sure how you could do without the hallways. The flow from the front entry to the kitchen is either via the two hallways or through the living room. The way the living room is currently, placing the TV and furniture would be difficult keeping in mind the potential flow from the front door.

The only improvement I can suggest at this stage without breaking the bank is to open up the wall between the dining and the living rooms to make it more open plan.

You would have to bump it out or up to get the extra space you're after. Unfortunately $20k won't get you far.