The Munro House Files
The Munro House Files is a real renovation series by FTLO Design following Melbourne homeowner Deirdre from stuck to started. Episode One covers the floor plan review that unlocked seven years of decision paralysis including the kitchen reconfiguration and the four-metre extension decision that became the most valuable part of the build. FTLO Design offers staged residential renovation consulting in Melbourne, starting with a Floor Plan Review at $699.
Episode One: Seven Years
The Munro Files is a client series following a real renovation from the very beginning the stuck feeling, the first conversation,
and every decision in between.
Deirdre had been thinking about renovating for seven years.
Not passively, the way you half-think about things. She'd had the conversations, gotten the builder quotes, spoken to people in the industry. She and her husband had sat with the same circular discussion more times than either of them cared to count. Nothing was moving, not because they didn't know what they wanted, but because they couldn't see a clear path to it.
That's the part people rarely talk about. The stuck phase. The one that can last years if the right conversation doesn't happen. (I have been there too and honestly this is why I have created this business is to show people whats possible before going head first into consultants and Fees that stack up)
What she was carrying into the call
Deirdre isn't someone who struggles to make decisions. She'd done renovation uplifts before and knew her way around the process. But she was clear-eyed about the difference between refreshing a space and doing a proper build and she'd heard enough cautionary tales to be careful. (She is well versed in this industry but she just didn’t need or want someone to just ‘drawer’ her sketch for her).
The one that scared her most: spending eighty thousand dollars on architectural drawings, getting a year down the track, and discovering you can't afford to build what's been designed. It happens more than the industry likes to admit.
Two things kept her stuck. How the spaces would actually flow. And how to land the interior decisions without ending up with something generic.
The floor plan review
When Deirdre first got in touch, she wasn't sure what to expect.
We started with the Floor Plan Review her existing layout, what wasn't working, and what the house was actually capable of given the block, the orientation, the budget. I came back with two concepts, walked her through the reasoning on each, and we made a decision together. Then the next stage. Then the next.
"Every stage felt led, but it still felt like ours."
The kitchen turn
This is the moment Deirdre comes back to when she talks about the project.
When I looked at the existing floor plan, the kitchen was oriented to face an interior wall. She'd pictured herself cooking with a view of the backyard watching the kids play, catching the afternoon light but the layout as drawn made that impossible. She didn't know that. You can't always see it until someone maps it for you.
I turned the kitchen.
Then I did something that felt counterintuitive on paper: I pulled the back of the extension in by four metres. Most people assume more floor space is always better that you build as far as the envelope allows and maximise the internal area. But Deirdre's block had garden depth worth designing around. Build all the way out, and you lose it. You get more house, and less of the thing that makes the house worth living in.
The four metres she didn't build became the most valuable part of the renovation. (and here comes the good part)
Standing at the bench, she can see the lawn, the trees, the kids. That was always the brief she just couldn't see how to get there. One move on the floor plan, and it was clear.
"I would never have landed on that myself. It's the thing that's going to make our house feel architecturally designed."
"After seven years of being stuck, the clarity, the timing, the structure, that was everything."
That's what a floor plan review actually is. Not a drawing. A starting point you can trust.
Up next in this series
Episode Two covers the exterior concept the roofline decision, the builder pushback, and why we held our ground.
If you're sitting somewhere similar to where Deirdre was you know the house isn't working, but you can't see what to do with it yet, the Floor Plan Review is where to start. Two floor plan options and a video walkthrough. $699. Five business days from your Zoom.
Book a Floor Plan Review → fortheloveofdesign.com.au/service/floor-plan-review
