Room changes activities
In this activity, you will plan and cost the renovation of a lounge room.
You will be required to:
- produce a scale drawing of the room
- design an appropriate arrangement of furniture and other items
- cost the renovation, including painting, curtains and floor coverings
- ensure that the total cost will fit within a given repayment scheme.
You are encouraged to freely discuss your ideas, choices and calculations with others, but you will be required to submit an individual final report in the format described below and a completed self evaluation sheet.
A full report will consist of:
- an accurate room plan drawn to a scale of 1:20
- effective placement of correctly sized models of furniture on the plan
- supporting material of:
-three examples of length calculations for plan drawing
-accuracy check of measurement and calculation of diagonals
-discussion of strengths and weaknesses of furniture selections
-clear workings of area calculations
-table of items purchased
-clear explanation of all finance calculations using appropriate mathematical presentations.
Room changes: Part 1
The first task is to produce a 1:20 scale diagram of the room.
Here is a plan view of the room with measurements in millimetres.
If you are viewing this as an A4 page, this drawing uses a scale of 1:50.
Task A
Produce a 1:20 scale diagram of the room.
You can draw your 1:20 plan on a blank A4 page or on graph paper, or you can use a computer drawing package (eg Geometer’s Sketchpad or Cabri).
Attach, or include with your drawing, at least three examples of how you calculated the lengths to use in the scale diagram.
Task B
A simple way to check that you have drawn right-angled corners, and therefore a rectangle, is to measure the length of the two diagonals.
This is a common practice in construction. If a parallelogram is created instead of a rectangle, the two diagonals will be different lengths.
Include your measurements of the two diagonals and a calculation, using Pythagoras’ Theorem, of the expected diagonal length. How close are your measurements? Explain any differences between the calculated value and the measurements.
Room changes: Part 2
In this task, calculations are made of surface areas to enable costing of paint, curtains, and floor coverings.
You will need to use the plan view supplied in Part 1.
Below are two side views from inside the room. They will help you with the measurements that are needed for wall and window calculations. You can assume that all windows and doorways are the same height.
All measurements are in millimetres.
TaskCalculate the surface area, in square metres, of:
- floor
- ceiling
- all windows
- four walls
Your calculations should be set out clearly, showing all intermediate workings and supported by sketches as appropriate.
Room changes: Part 3
In this part of the task a lounge room is designed within given parameters.
You will need to use the 1:20 scale diagram you created in Part 1.
Unless you have agreed otherwise with your teacher, the room must contain at least six items from the following table. Basic ‘footprint’ sizes of the items, and comments about the locations of each, are included.
You may use furniture items and appliances in addition to those shown here. If you choose to do so, dimensions should be provided where appropriate.
sofa / 1500 900 / Should support conversation with others, have a view of TV.
lounge chairs (2) / 900 900 / Should support conversation with others, have a view of TV.
entertainment unit (cabinet) / 1200 600 / Focal point of electronic entertainment. Contains TV, DVD and/or home theatre.
items to be placed in the entertainment unit – can be any combination of TV, DVD, home theatre, game console (size is unimportant) / Any of these items require purchase of the entertainment unit.
coffee table / 1000 600 / Should be near the seating.
occasional tables (2) / 600 600 / Can be used anywhere to provide tables for chairs or to display decorations.
floor lamps / 500 500 / Can be used as reading aids or simply for decoration.
side table/buffet / 1200 400 / Should be placed along a wall.
display cabinet / 800 400 / Should be placed along a wall.
speakers (minimum
of 3) / 250 250 / Use two stereo speakers and a sub woofer. Rear speakers for home stereo can be ignored.
Task A
Make small cut-out models of the chosen items using the 1:20 scale. Arrange them on your scale plan and glue in place when you are satisfied.
Task B
Write two brief paragraphs using these starting words:
- The strong points about my design are …
- Possible problems with my design are …
Room changes: Part 4
In this part of the task, furniture items are chosen and costs calculated.
The total cost of the renovation needs to be calculated. The total cost involves purchase of:
- paint for ceiling and walls
- window coverings
- floor coverings
- furniture items
- electrical (entertainment) items.
Your teacher will advise you how to find the costs of items and other relevant details.
Although the physical sizes of the chosen items and the sizes used in Part 2 may differ, this does not need to be a consideration for this activity.
Task A
Calculate the amount of paint required for the room. Calculate the cost. (Some research into the ‘coverage’ of the paint will be needed.)
Task B
Calculate the quantities and costs of window coverings.
Task C
Calculate the quantity and cost of the floor covering.
Task D
Calculate the cost of the furniture items and appliances.
Present your results in a detailed table similar to this:
Item / Number/quantity / Unit cost ($) / Item cost ($)paint
Enamel Silk (Dilux) / 4 L / 50 / 50
carpet
‘Invecta’ (Henry Noman) / 10 m2 / 48/m2 / 480.00
LG 68 cm TV
(Clove Potters) / 1 / 999 / 999
An appendix should be attached to your final report to show how you calculated items such as the amount of paint required. Clearly show the assumptions that were used to achieve the costs of items such as painting, and floor and window coverings.
Room changes: Part 5
In this part of the task, repayments are calculated and changes made if the project is too expensive.
The financial situation
You have $2000 to spend immediately on the renovation. The rest needs to be borrowed and repaid monthly over a 3-year period. However, your household budget will only allow repayments of $175 per month.
Here are three ways of financing the renovation. Your teacher will advise you which ones you need to consider.
Case 1: Zero interest
The money is borrowed from family or a friend with no interest charged. The borrowed money is repaid in equal monthly instalments over 3 years.
Case 2: Simple interest
Interest on the borrowed money is calculated at 12% per year of the full principal for three years.
Case 3: Reducing balance interest
(a) A bank loan is taken out with interest of 12% per year based on the monthly balance owing.
or
(b) The outstanding amount is placed on a credit card with an interest rate of 0.0484% daily, with repayments made and interest added to the account on the last day of the month.
TaskCompare the two finance options you have been allocated.
In each finance case, you need to calculate the monthly repayments to cover your borrowings.
If the payments are under $175 per month, you have chosen wisely. Calculate howmuch extra you could have spent and stayed within budget.
If the repayments exceed $175 per month, you can revisist Part 4 and choose cheaper items until your repayments are satisfactory. Alternatively, calculate the amount of overspending and how much needs to be cut from the renovation cost to be within budget.
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