Hi Mike and Emma Hope you are slowly but surely getting there... may I make some comments/suggestions that you may or not take on board, but hopefully it may at least give you some ideas/options... Going through a new build ourselves at the moment, and for what it's worth, here's what I personally think: A. Work with what you've got: - additional plumbing work, gas work etc may not be necessary and (particularly gas) can be costly when you're trying to work around existing walls, floors, etc, and as much as possible utilise the existing connections... after whatever you can save here and there, you can spend on nicer cabinetery, gadgets, finishes, etc :) B. Avoid unnecessry structural work: - removing the kitchen/living wall is a must (more space, light, etc) but removing the laundry wall is an unncessary added cost (may even require costly additional strutural support) - putting up a plastered wall on the other hand is inexpensive, allows you to redefine different zones and relocate doors/openings where required (*note: avoid hinged doors in small spaces as you have to allow for wasted space to open door - suggest cavity sliding doors, easy to incorporate in a new wall) C. Don't sacrifice functionality and natural light for design - love full height floor to ceiling cabinets, very much on trend... but they also tend to bring the walls in, which you want to avoid in an already small space... they will also block out more natural ligtht from the only window to the living and breakfast bench (meals area)... not to mention seated guests would be staring at a cabinet tower and fridge - on the other hand a walk in pantry (not that much of a walk in a small space) is also very much on trend, provides more storage and... as entertaining guests in open plan livings tends to happen more in the kitchen... it provides a good hiding place for unsightly items, including frigges... (an underbench bar fridge in the kitchen can easily keep those beers cold... though do consider that means sacrificing some cabinet space) - constantly wiping off the floors from dripping wet dishes across the kictchen from the sink to the dishwaser on the other side bench would personally drive me mad after a while... the dishwasher can easily be connected to the existing sink water and waste points through the cabinerty... any half decent plumber should be able to do that... ON THAT NOTE... or should I say those notes... I know I got a bit carried away :) ... if it were me, here's an idea of what I would try to achieve ...

Thanks "The Hut Interior Design". Do you mean that I should work with the current width of about 2.5-2.6m wide (which is width of current bathroom and cupboards combined? When you say that I should split the space in 2, do you mean that the dividing line should split the current depth of 3.080m into 2 spaces of equal space. This would mean that I would have a front space of 1.54m deep and 2.6m wide in which to put the main shower and vanity, linen storage and B/I for bedroom and then the back of the current bathroom would be the ensuite also of 1.54m deep and 2.6m wide. Is there any chance you could scribble a diagram of what you mean. The diagram wouldn't need to be to scale but it would be great if you could suggest the overall space to be allowed for the main bathroom as compared to the ensuite and b/i wardrobe. Somewhere I would have to have a bit of linen storage too. I had thought about using the back of the bathroom where the window was for the ensuite and the front of the current bathroom for the main bathroom (once area is gutted). However, I could figure out how to do the ensuite and B/I wardrobe without wasting space and still be workable. Do you think in reality, I would have to put in 2 skylights. One for each bathroom. Unfortunately, I can't take space at the moment from any other room connected to the W/C as the front bedroom is quite small and I would like to keep the house as a 3 bedroom house at the moment. By keeping the current toilet where it is, it means that the main bathroom would not need a toilet in it. I have ripped out the bath and it is just sitting in the bathroom waiting for someone to help me move it out of the house (luckily I live alone here at present). There was no asbestos around the bath but the sheeting on the shower side (on which the shower tiles sit) plus the ceiling are both asbestos. That is the only asbestos in the area. From what you have said, do you recommend just working with the current bathroom and cupboard space and not taking another 0.4m x 2.1m from the bedroom (The bedroom is 3.080m deep, so I allowed 980mm for the door to swing back on current wall - If I were to eat into some space in the current bedroom).. I really appreciate your advice - it is along the lines of what I had been thinking but the 2 dilemmas I had were 1. how to make the ensuite/built in design work and 2. since main bathroom wouldn't need a toilet, how to keep make it not look way too small and cheap, knowing that it won't require a big space (square meterage) in order to work in a practical sense. ie. It may work in a practical sense, but due to its small size, it may look cheap and nasty. Many thanks for the time that you have taken to respond and your advice.

Hi Karina. Haha very funny re your art piece, KitchenAid! Baking is so much fun; I'm a baker from way way back, and you learn by just jumping in and doing it. About the height of your combined dining/bench table, it's pretty important to have a height that's comfortable for you whilst you work. I'm tall and my family is too, so we had the benchtop height built higher so we are not getting backaches from constantly having to bend over to work. It's really more important for the one who does all or most of the cooking & baking to be comfortable as you can spend long periods of time reading and working out recipes, then putting it all together. Likewise, if you are shorter, choose a table that suits you. Best wishes and keep us posted.

i'm glad you're planning to reroute access to the garage: clumsy traffic pattern change a generous room into a big hallway and can't stop thinking about your kitchen..1. where you have narrow cabinets/shelves in the pantry...it's possible to have built in shelves inside the dividing wall (think about the size of what you want to store: cans, bottles, skinny packets? and put 60cm base cabinets on the other side, next to the freezer 2. i can't see the yellow highlights for stools 3. width of pantry is subject to you wanting to keep the door to the formal living room...if so, measure 150mm past the door opening and that's the minimum width of the pantry but 1500mm allows space to comfortably walk past your freezer and have full size base cabinets with pantry drawers (cleaner than open shelves) 4. space between the b'fast bar and 'fridge should be at least 90cm but if you choose a wide b'fast bar and a big 'fridge a bigger space is preferable (stand a couple of chairs 90cm in front of your current fridge for a few days and see how it feels) direction of fridge door opening is also critical, first for the cooks and then everyone else: if the size of the b'fast bar can be enlarged or reduced with overhanging counter then a change of walkway is not so difficult 5. as suggested by girlguide, the cooktop and rangehood might be better on the outside wall for ventilation 6. there seems to be a lot of small cabinets and drawers in your plan and there could be some better (and cheaper) combinations but when i tried to access IKEA kitchen planner to confirm available sizes it's not responding today 7. i've attached my suggested approximate base cabinet sizes: starting with corners and work outwards, aiming for the biggest standard carcases and then add drawers to suit purpose ..