Once again, thanks everyone for your thoughts. The idea of a skylight is definitely on the cards - the glass doors are something that we just like on all the other doors, with the toilet just being the question. Also, a skylight might be a bit beyond our DIY (sky-tube maybe less so?) and trade work down here takes time (I'm not just in Snowy Mountains rural, but then down a country road 25km, plus another 2km of uphill dirt driveway, and the trades don't always show willing) - things we can't do ourselves take time and frustration. What Maguire Architects says about heat loss is important to us though (thus the double-glazing, storage heaters, etc.), so I've particularly taken that on-board. As for IKEA (jajlynn, Belinda)... jajlynn, that kitchen looks fantastic. I love those overhead lights - they really suit the style. Brisbane IKEA did delivery to Sunshine Coast, but the cost was pretty exorbitant, and they wanted to charge that each time more of the ordered stock came in. It got so frustrating having an incomplete kitchen, waiting for stock, we eventually brow-beat them into sending the stuff from a Sydney store (something they were very unwilling to do, even transfers between stores). They sent whole cupboards by Australia Post, slathered in standard stamps - it was weird. But it got done, and it got put together. Before and afters below Belinda, I'll be honest with you: as much as the IKEA kitchen is better than the Mitre10 kitchen, instruction-wise, you're gonna swear. You're gonna have to paint over the blue when you're done. ;) Just remember, when you're swearing, and probably at each other (assuming there's an other here - otherwise, at yourself and everything else), but it's just a kitchen - you'll get it done, it'll look great, you'll be justly proud and you'll want to do your next one (maybe not straight away though ;) ). That's why we're doing stuff here straight away in the new house - it gave us confidence to do it or learn trying. Now if you'll all excuse me I've got to get back to swearing at pantry wall cabinets, at my partner, at Mitre10, at the government, at that thing over there whatever it is, and at cursed fate that placed these suddenly-discovered slightly-wonky walls between me and happiness. ;)

Don't Apollo Blinds do every kind? Cleaning blinds is a horrible task. They sell some crazy looking brushes for that task but i have not tried one.

Almost all of my life I have lived without a proper front door. Just building now and have an entrance for us and a proper front door for everyone else! Can't wait.

aftab sidiqi, is your concern the aesthetics of a door in that position or the fact that it is the powder room? Pottsy, it looks like a CGI picture? I saw a real estate listing once with the powder room off the dining room, surprisingly in a quite a large luxurious house. Decoro Custom Interiors is right, I remember now there are safety regulations about how toilet doors function. So a completely disguised door might not meet them. I agree with oklouise that a door between the entry and hall makes sense. Otherwise it seems rather obvious where a guest goes from the lounge. I think that's more of an issue than just the fact there's a door there. Kate makes a good point that if it's too hidden you have to guide people to it. As far as appearance goes, I like Julie Herbert's solutions. But maybe there is a better location for the powder room, if we can see the upstairs plan to understand how the stairs fit in?