Do you see what I mean about my imagination my skills. My drawing look oh so like yours (not). I really love your idea of the island bench. Connie I've had Others warn me off a sink on the island, but to be honest I don't mind if there is a dish in the sink (not dumped everywhere - I'm a stickler) the house is to be lived in I guess. With the suggestion of the border that mldesign gave I think the problem is solved. Still leaves me with two metres give or take for plating up etc. I did consider the sink on the other wall but just didn't feel the flow. As my pantry door and the window wall are are right angles - ie not stepped behind I was still thinking I would have a tall cupboard as per my sophisticated drawing above for small appliances and keep coffee cups etc in there. In saying that I was thinking I might swap the fridge from left to the right so the tal cupboards, pantry door and second tall cupboard are all grouped. Love your idea re the mirrored kickers. A big thank you for taking the time to draw these up. I will most definitely be using most of your ideas!

Hi there, re the fence my choice would be the same colour as house with either same colour slats or your window surfmist both would look classic, definately NO timber here. Because you are on a corner block I'd be planting a hedge inside the fence with something like Murraya asap, Jim Henson could advise. I would consider Pleaching them up to where the slats start so that you could under plant with something pretty, I'd also consider adding garden lights as per attached photo. plus I would also consider putting "Eye lid" down lights on the exterior posts of the fence, this could add great street appeal for your wonderful very large house (is your whole family moving in. The garage, either same as wall colour or Monument is my choice. cheers,

The Your Home may say that a northern frontage block, like yours, is a good orientation for energy efficiency. But this comes with one major caveat, the living areas MUST face north & be unshaded in winter time. This means building a home with the garage or back (if there's a rear lane), or pushing the home back a bit & building a carport or garage at the front, which is separated from the home ( & won't shade it). But this is not what usually happens. Usually a large double garage is located at the front, taking up a large portion of the northern aspect. Robbing the home of northern light. Your block is reasonably narrow, at around 11m. Take out the side setbacks (if you're not allowed a zero lot boundary for the garage) & you have 9m for the home's maximum width. 6m width for the garage, more for the entrance, add the thickness of the walls. What you're left with is very little, & you wouldn't even have enough room for a single north facing room. In this scenario your block orientation is a very poor choice in terms of energy efficiency & comfort. The home will be dark, & cold in winter. With increase bills for heating, lighting & maybe even cooling (if you have a lot of eastern & western windows). So I'd you are planning on building a pretty normal home with a big double garage at the front, & have the option to choose another block, is highly recommend you do so. The blocks on the opposite side of the street are the idea candidates. A southern frontage, where a large garage could be located, without shading the home. Importantly, north facing living rooms located out the back. These will be light, warm in winter, cool in summer (shaded by eaves). If you are unable to change blocks & don't have access to a rear lane for a garage, there's a few things you can do. But you'll have to be a bit adventurous to get good results, or forego a double garage if that's what's in the plans. As you don't have a very large block, there's not much room to push the home back, & separate it from the garage. A different option is to build an 'upside-down home'. With living areas upstairs, bedrooms below. Locating the living areas towards the front of the home will mean they will be light, & warmed by the sun in winter, with access to cooling breezes. Bedrooms will be cooler & darker. Ideal. I'm actually living in an upside down house right now, with north facing living areas 😁 If this type of design is too much of a stretch, & you'd like a more familiar design, there's options to limit the dominance of the garage in the northern aspect. Reducing its width by building a single garage or a tandem garage. If you must have a double garage, & don't have a zero lot boundary, the only way to fit a north facing room would be to have a side entrance to the home. Shortening up the hallway length, leaving part of the northern aspect to one northern room. As you can see, your choice of block, with a northern frontage is a poor choice from an energy efficiency perspective. But you can overcome some of these limitations with good, inventive design. You won't get this from an average volume builder.

my previous post was to illustrate how much space there is around your house for a generous 4 bed 2 bath 2 living area plans (i used my own house plans to avoid breaching any copywright) but here is so much land left over that i can't fit the imnage into a readable post and i've had a look at your new plan and it looks good for your wish list but do you want 4 bedrooms and drive through access to the backyard or space for a pool and/or a pool house or separate workshop or mancave and, before considering this plan you need to check with local council if they will approve the garage at the front of the block...usually councils prefer that the garage is further back than the entry but itm i will consider some ideas for you