Thread: open plan living of mice and men

Originally Posted by WhiteLotusLane

For the initial house (I might not even call it a house, it's just to spend a weekend) I would hope to stay well South of 500K including everything..

I really suggest you check out some of the Thai house and garden magazines, the ones sold in the newsagents, not the fancy coffee table books.

They have some nice places in there that aren't overdone with expensive features and furniture. I'm sure you'll find some good ideas. One I have at home has a place very similar to your sketch. The underneath part is brick paved with a garden surrounding.

I would also consider a simple kitchen downstairs, doesn't need to be fancy, just a gas cooker, sink and one of those rat/insect proof cabinets.

I remember you saying that you didn't like the look of a concrete bathroom attached to a wooden house. I think the poster above has it right, a stone addition wouldn't look out of place there. Perhaps with some of those translucent glass blocks as a roof, I think they'd allow enough light to even have some plants in your toilet and give it an outdoor feel. I live in Saigon, many of the coffeeshops here have stone additions with fountains that are open to the sky and there is really no reason it couldn't work as a toilet as well.

Originally Posted by WhiteLotusLane

I'd love to see that!! And I thought I already included way more windows than the standard... You have any pictures?

I don't have any photos of it. I'll take some next time we go to Ayutthaya. (probably in August)

Originally Posted by TizMe

next time we go to Ayutthaya. (probably in August)

Me too, possibly.

Something like this downstairs, you could pave or have concrete. The blinds are dirt cheap and keep out sun and dust


Some nice ideas for upstairs

Smithson, the pics are great. Do you have any more? A few questions. In the bedroom the walls look made of concrete, and the living area is all wood. Is that the same house? If I use it as a holiday house, what can I do for security? The living area and downstairs look nice and open, I wonder what is done to lock it up.

^ I found the pics here It's a resort, so security's not a problem.

It's interesting how popular resorts have nice open styles, yet few ppl choose to build that way. Security may be part of the reason.

The only real solution is to have somebody live there or very close by. Also, having very little worth stealing is a good idea.

I'd go for an open design to live in full time and would probably keep things fairly simple, I don't think heaps need to be spent to make the place look nice.

For security I'd have ppl live there, ideally a couple, the woman for housework etc. and a man to do the garden and odd jobs. A nice garden costs little.

On WhiteLotus's computer rendered house, can anyone guesstimate the dimensions/cost of adding a stone structure as a bathroom? Is stone expensive in Thailand?