Hi I have work in the building Industry for many years before venturing into Landscaping and Design. It come to this having a split level can be easy but you will need to think would you like to come up and down multi level home. I had a multi level home at Bonnells Bay (Newcastle) N.S.W. and found after living there for 5 year a bit of chore to go up and down the level so much. A single level flow better to go with a Alfresco Dinning experience, as if you have a guest at your house been entertain on the outside it make it hard to find a toilet if needed. I would say to your husband to weigh up the cost, it is simple and as follows a retaining wall of one level, can be anything from stone or besser block or timber. These element will be what you can afford to do, the stone and besser are the most expensive of the 3 but require the less maintenance and last the longest. Timber can be low cost, but has the tendency to decay over time and has a life span of no longer then 5-8 year, depending on environmental conditions. A retaining wall of that height of 1.5m, tend to need a engineering spec to built and so my advise is to go for the besser as it the cheaper then stone. if your are concern on look of the besser, it can dressed up with stone looking tile or there a number of option to go for. is to get the costing of doing a multi level home design. This can be costly too depend on if it going to be slab or bears and joist home, as the cost differ and different type of process have to happen. You got to ask yourself, is my house raise of the ground or is a slab that sit directly on the ground. to put it to you as simple as I can, for a slab need steel and pier to be dug and so on, so if this is the case then with your current house is siting on a cut and fill which is common for this type of slab construction. Where a Bearers and joist system sit on top of a raised pier that come off the ground. this is what a lot of the older style home have, the only thing about this not a lot of builder and trades people do not how to do this as it a dying art of constructing house. final option is to do a raise slab which raises like a retaining wall but in face bricks and a slab is pore on top but not seen form the outside and the face bricks continues As for the design of your house it all up to what you want for a house, you have to ask yourself can I use this for the long term or is something I want rather then need. Sometime we over compensate for thing and the saying in design is less tends to be best. a flowing design is a happy one and can be more of a chore to go with something that is wanted then needed. A little tip for your kitchen, make shore that the sink, stove and fridge are in a triangle form from each other as this flow the best when cooking. Any tip of knowledge on retaining wall just send me a message

scottevie, unfortunately the whole setup is out of alignment. The cupboards are not centered to the front of the bench which is itself not centered to the window quick is itself not centered on the wall. The center of the cupboards is very close to the center of the windows but just slightly off. The tap will not be in the centre of two bowls because the bowls are of different size. I like your idea of centering the sink using the tap though.

For me, it would be colour. Maybe a feature wall for walls around dining, or living, pick colour from your favoured painting, and use same and other colours from pictures for cushions or even some occasional furniture in the brightest colour - I saw this done beautifully in a tarted up house for display - a small seat/coffee table painted and upholstered in an orange mix, which was taken from the splashback (everything else was neutral) and also in a throw for lounge.

Hi Bec, sorry for taking so long to respond, I have been trying to find a way that could work for you I finally decided to do what I would if it was my house. It may seem extreme but for me it simplifies the angles, giving you a kitchen/dining/family/living The new Kitchen retains part of the old wall between the kitchen and living if needed to perform as load bearing, the island butts up to this, The rear southern wall of kitchen cabinets extends across the dining for extra storage or pantry and takes advantage of the French doors to the Alfresco. Moving the kitchen plumbing to the external southern wall should be achievable, having two plumbers in the family is a big plus I came to this idea after checking out the link you provided which is posted below which shows the whole floorplan and how it would flow and work for you and family when they visit, you can add doors between the family and dining if wanted. Again looking at the link ,your Spanline alfresco appears it may have been done in two stages, the first part has a gable roof which I would keep along with the brick wall and add white shutters above that and full height bi fold shutters across from the brick shuttered wall to the wall of the house. By removing the flat roof section but retaining the slab will help lighten the South facing bedrooms and open up the house to the lovely rear garden you mentioned https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/5981026/inviting-suggestions-update-demolish-a-spanline-style-addition