The answer to the colour is here on another dilemma, Resene Stack [Colour used on this house[(https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/could-you-please-tell-me-the-colours-used-on-this-house-please-dsvw-vd~1274539?n=4)

practicallity wise with young kids shaggy is going to be a nightmare ..wool is good as warm in Winter..and hypoallergenic.. Harvey Norman have great rug sales sometimes 40% off just keep an eye out for them.. I don't buy wool I just buy what looks nice and is practical.. 2 of my kids have eczema and they find wool rugs rough and itchy..we used to have a wool rug at our old place..so I only buy synthetic now..

I think dulux 'self destruct' would look beautiful and blend well with your brickwork, also for garage door, we had exterior blinds with a scallop, I cut the scallop off and painted them to match the house and they look great and more modern , used exterior paint and roller, easy and fab update.

OP, OKL's plan is better from an energy efficiency point of view than your plan (your plan wastes the northern aspect with bathrooms). But DON'T just flip OKL's plan, as the orientation would then be all wrong! It's important to get the orientation right, this will greatly effect the comfort of your home & your heating/cooling requirements (& hence your bills). Read this. It's all very useful, but maybe focus on the section about orientation first. http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design Below are some generalisations. As has been requested, it would be nice to know your general location, as climates vary across our big country, so building requirements change. But generally, you want your living areas (& a large proportion of your glazing facing north). If possible, have a smaller portion of your glazing facing south & east, for cross ventilation, & try to eliminate western glazing. Bedrooms to the south & east (if they won't also fit in the north), & rarely used rooms, like garages, bathrooms & laundries to the west. Your verandah is south facing, good, as it won't shade your home in winter. Hopefully you have north facing eaves & they aren't too large. If they are the right size you'll get sun through your northern windows in winter, but the eaves will shade the house in summer, when the sun is higher in the sky. So can you knock out windows & doors wherever you want? Would be good to know where they are currently, the size of the verandah, the block dimensions & any other structures which will influence shading & privacy. I'd also be looking at some tiny house blogs/websites. 72sqm isn't tiny, but you really want an efficient house that works well, & you'll find some ingenious storage solutions that are used in tiny houses. Well designed built in storage is definitely very important in a small home. Can't see if it all fits now, while using the app on my phone. But I'd aim for something like this. The kitchen in the NE corner, running down the eastern wall (so you get good morning sun). An island bench for dining, separating the living area on the northern wall. Master in the NW corner, with the ensuite on the western wall (if it fits - important not to have the master bedroom window facing west). Minor bedrooms (& windows) on the south wall. Main bathroom or powder room somewhere on the southern wall, in the SW corner would be nice if it fits there. No idea is that all fits, just some ideas. If you're not fussed about an easy facing kitchen, you could flip this all, & have the kitchen in the NW corner, & the master in the NE corner. If you're taking off external or internal cladding, this is a good time to insulate you're walls. Also up insulation levels in the roof cavity of they're inadequate. It will greatly effect comfort, is quite cheap & the walls are very hard to do at other times. Edit: as I got the verandah location wrong, then added to my post.