@ Hilda Tinkle...LOVE your room...mostly love the rugs and, in my view, those artworks are as if they were purpose commissioned ! "The whole" I am sure reflects your personality! Its been very interesting watching it all grow. As for replacing the lamp stand, personally, I really like that stand both for the room proportions and... for that friendly, substantial chunky lamp. I feel...and that's "feel"....that I'd want to put some sort of novel,decorative, low, longer, narrow, open construct couchside table/magazine/book 'depository'/drink putter-on (phew) at the side of the couch ...a proportionate space away from the side of the couch...something that has room for the lamp at the end to sit exactly where it does now under the yellow painting....Or, keep the lamp stand where it is and add a little bit of decorative yet functional whimsy at the couchside. It would need to be the perfect thing...I see a little nest of small decorative tables in my mind's eye...just feel you need to relieve the substantial solid feel with something that looks light and.... airy?....hard to describe, just a mind image. How about one larger cushion among the array of small ones? I've not seen your room for a while. I love what you've done..dignified, furnished in quality items and more to the point..themed ! Imagining myself relaxing in that room along with a friend or two....find myself wanting something tall that draws focus, maybe that accentuates the purpose of the room or calls attention to the theme...just a thought. I spent my early childhood in the Pacific and was surrounded by artifacts and furnishings that had the same "feel" as your room. I am really impressed by your attention to detail and how you've managed to assemble it all so it appears purpose made to go together, Congrats on ...substance ! Where did it all start...I've forgotten....with the rugs?

Of course there are other aspects to consider, but orientation plays a very big part in the comfort of a home. The home I'm living in requires not heating or cooling at any time in the year. The living room has sun streaming through the windows this morning, & it's currently 21C inside. That's on a winter's morning! I'd be looking for a lot more than the bare minimum 5 stars! Why build a new house that only just meet an energy rating that will be unacceptable in only a few years. Many builders will orientate their builds poorly, & have to install expensive extras like double glazing just to reach the minimum standards, adding costs to the build. Reorienting the build costs nothing. Plus you'll save on heating & cooling costs. In the end, you'll be far better off financially, plus you'll be living in a far more comfortable house. You're lucky to have the north facing backyard, only 1 in 4 houses have it. Most blocks have quite narrow frontages, you've been blessed with a wide frontage & are extremely lucky to have that very wide backyard. Is be using it to my advantage & placing all the living areas to the north, along with the parents retreat, & the master of you can manage it. The other bedrooms, & bathrooms could occupy the south side (along with the media room, if you want it dark).

Hi Erin, Some very good points made by everyone. First, I'll start by recommending that your have a read of the government's Your Home website. Tonnes & tonnes of information about designing a comfortable, energy efficient home. I'll link to the orientation section, as that's what I'll discuss, but recommend that you read more. http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation A western frontage with no northern neighbour is a great block. This has allowed you to locate the garage on the SW corner, blocking the very hot afternoon summer sun, which is brilliant. But the western facing master bedroom is a major concern. Western sunshine (& eastern to some degree) is very difficult to shade, as eaves are ineffective when the sun is low in the sky. So usually it's a good idea to minimise western windows & place rarely used rooms, like bathrooms, laundries (along with the garage) facing west. But this becomes difficult for west facing houses, as you don't want to negatively effect street appeal. So I'll start by asking, do you envisage using all of your bedrooms, all the time? Or will one or the bedrooms be a guest bedroom, that will be rarely used? If one of the bedrooms is a spare bedroom, is recommend moving it to the front of the house, so that it bares the brunt of the hot afternoon sun. I'd then move the master to the SE corner, so it has an outlook to the backyard. If this can't be done is recommend following the above designs, moving either the ensuite or WIR to the W frontage, while still trying to maintain an attractive western facade. Pity you don't have access from the north. A northern entrance could have limited the length of the hallway, & brightened it up. One option I like a lot for this type of block orientation is designing a split skillion roof, with north facing clerestory (highlight) windows running down the spine of the build. These windows will greatly brighten the hallway, & also the kitchen which will be quite dark otherwise. These high level windows can also be great in summer, purging the house of heat in the evenings & throughout the night. Just make sure they have appropriate eaves, so they receive no sunshine in the warmer months. Next question. You explained a little of what's to your north. But how is the outlook. Generally it is a good idea to face your living areas, & a large portion of your windows north. If you will have a nice outlook to the north you may consider more north facing glazing. Though, do your research, as I'm not too sure of your actual climate, & you wouldn't want to overglaze. Also, orientating your glazing for cooling summer breezes is important, particularly in hot QLD. Which direction do your breezes come from, throughout the year, & throughout the day. I'd recommend finding this out by looking for the local "wind roses" on the BOM, Bureau of Meteorology. That's it for now, phone battery's about to die. Good luck

Even if it was a weatherboard house, there could be asbestos sheeting in the eaves or the interior walls or the fusebox or all sorts of places, and there could be asbestos in other materials like the putty in the windows. That's good advice from Dreamer. Here's another link. https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/find-out-about-asbestos/asbestos-home Weatherboard is timber boards and I don't see the stripey look of weatherboards in your pictures. I think the agent has a very vague understanding that there's brick houses and non-brick houses, and assumed anything non-brick is weatherboard. It never ceases to disappoint me how uneducated agents are about the very product they are selling. This is weatherboard, you can see the boards.