I had another idea over lunch. See what you think of this. I was thinking it might be nice to be able to invite people into the living area without having to go through the kitchen. This one opens up the back hallway and gives you a new swanky kitchen with an island bench. The old entrance is opened up and becomes a porch, you can reuse the windows elsewhere, try and save the framing as well, for example near the dining area. Now, I gracefully retire and look forward to seeing what you decide to do in the end. :)

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Hi Andreanne, A great opportunity and substantial project here for you! Our advice in these situations is to consider the whole residence, rather than just focus on the extension. Rather than look at it as "an extension to add 2 bedroom etc...." you need to be looking at it firstly as a project that you have (a) a budget of $X (b) existing conditions & context (ie the current house and available site and (c) the overall and specific "brief" requirements of the home/end outcome, for example 4 bed, 3 bath 2 living areas, garage etc....... What this does is then bring into consideration of how best to manage an expansion/extension/renovation scenario to maximise the opportunity available for the complete residence. Such critical design decisions ultimately always come down to money and budget limits and you need to understand this in various ways before starting to make decisions on where you put things and whether you can configure, renovate or extend one way of the other. You mentioned the kitchen and "waiting", however considering your brief and scale, of the home it may make more sense to convert the kitchen into a bedroom or a play area and create and updated living/kitchen dining in an extended space.......always various options and it comes down to balancing various aspects with understanding practicalities, priorities, value and costs. I'd encourage you to seek professional design assistance with this at this point in the process, as from experience, we are best equipped to assist with resolving these design dilemmas. Hope this is considered helpful Cheers PD :)

Firstly , you want something that you like , that suits the area and the climate and the vibe , so some of our suggestions are just guesses , modulated by our preferences , so take this more as a discussion , not a set-in-stone outline . Normally my ears prick up when I hear someone say they don't mind something a bit out-there , but I don't think this place wants to be or needs to be -- I'd embrace the era , and go with a 50's soft blue or apricot or mint green . The base boards then could be a more mainstream blue or orange or forest green -- not super bright shades of those , but about 3 times the brightness of the main tone , not 6 or 8 times , if that makes sense . They'd all look good with the white trim , and I personally would have gone for a stronger roof colour , but its pretty neutral so its easy to work with , and won't offend anyone haha . And the fence -- almost certainly a charcoal black stained wooden fence . Within 6 months , as your house starts looking attached to the site , so will the fence fade and weather and not look 'newly done' .