We have four farmhouse style sinks in two different houses, and all present the same problem. It doesn't have anything to do with the material as two sinks are concrete, one stainless steel, and one composite stone. With the two kitchen sinks it's very frustrating spraying out the food particles from corner to corner. Food particles go from one side to the other, and it's very difficult to corral them to the drain. The two concrete bathroom sinks don't have enough slope, so when shaving and brushing teeth, the water and material flow to the opposite side of the sink. It's annoying to wash a 3' wide sink every time it's used. And gross if the sink isn't cleaned from side to side after every use. As a compromise, we're installing a farmhouse concrete bathroom sink with two drains and more slope. As I evaluate many things in life, a, farmhouse sink is a solutions looking for problem.

hi Neryl and others, I love fire pits and we have a special area in the yard with stone seating around it. we love it and it is great for the kids and when they have friends over. we often burn these funny hexagonal 'logs' which are made from recycled something (I cant remember whether its paper or woodchips). we got them from Bunnings but I can't find them on bunnings website right now. they are called ecologs or something like that. they are slow burning and good. we have the chappala sun god fire pit from bunnings and it has been good. the metal parts do rust tho. the good thing about it is the screen lid which I feel is a bit safer. but the lid does get hot so you need an oven mitt or similar to lift it to roast marshmallows or add more wood or anything. downside is it has no drainage hole so fills with rainwater. good luck

Wow, what a difference, I had no idea just how big the area was from the before photos, but this looks great - clean and easy to maintain as well. I can see in time the plantings will give a nice lushness and softness to the area that will also help visually cool the area in summer as well. I also like the elevated garden - I can assure you this is a real bonus in senior years. Wondering how many of the old crowd are still around, I lost the ability to post photos after a computer update quite some years back and then couldn't make comments either, so I'm thrilled suddenly the site seems to be working for me. I felt I'd been excommunicated. Not long after this post, I up and sold my Sydney house, was totally fed up with the overdevelopment happening and moved to Port Stephens for some quiet country life. Bought a house on a small block of land that wouldn't be too much for me to maintain in my senior years and the back garden faces north so gets sun all day winter and summer - beautiful in winter as it lets the sun in the house on that side too, but almost unliveable in summer. House had been leased all its life so I literally had a blank canvas - after I'd levelled the craters the tenant's dog had created - I needed privacy from neighbours but didn't want a lot of maintenance, including no lawns to mow, so I've used low maintenance shrubs growing to about 2m around the perimeter and 4 crepe myrtles in the centre area for shade to sit under in summer while allowing full sun in winter. Just waiting for everything to grow now, but thanks to Covid and lockdowns, I've had plenty of time to garden. Thanks for the update Rog, I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

Ok so after all the feedback I made some changes. After looking at it, I would like to make entry point from garage on the garage wall, so you still enter into pantry, but you dont have to walk through pantry to gain access to the house. I would also like to flip bathroom and bed 3 so bathroom is centred between rooms. Also not convinced I should have entry to lounge from kitchen, should I have kept it entering from the entry. My only issues now is, do you notice how the bathroom steps in? This is because the ensuite is a bit bigger. Will it look ok once built or do I take that 30cm from my ensuite/main room to level it up? If so do I take 15cm from ensuite and 15cm from main bedroom? Also I really wanted the compartment bathroom that oklouise suggested. But its not big enough. Any ideas? My current bathroom is 3100 x 2600.