In my past renovations, it's been unforeseen things numbering too high, too often, blowing out the budget and time frame! That was after me allowing for some things in advance too! This time I'm concentrating on structural before moving in, then taking my time over a year or two to do a few things at a time, so there's less rush. Eg Restumping, dangerous tree removal & roof repairs before moving in, then once in, kitchen, skylights, ducted climate control, landscaping, verandas & bathrooms all separately with a break in between, rather than all at once! Means it's gentler on my psyche and my wallet, plus allows me to plan each thing through more thoroughly as I'm only concentrating just on that thing. Fortunately it's just renovating existing spaces and not an extension (that's in about 4-5 years!) Good luck and remember to get out often for nights away!

We're looking into this but haven't decided if we will use these plans or use an architect with experience in passive solar design. I've started preliminary discussions with a builder who has experience with passive solar houses, although he predominantly does small scale volume building. Hoping he can bring his purchasing power and systems to this project but allow us the flexibility to create what we want. He's enthusiastic about passive solar design so that's a start. We haven't discussed these plans yet, but at a rough estimate he's suggested in the low to mid $300,000s for a 200m2 house including garage, polished concrete floors, reverse brick veneer, increased insulation, quality kitchen appliances, with BAL up to 19, static fire tank. Not including PV panels, driveways, landscaping. Does include hydronic heating. Of course it does depend on the finish you want, type of builder you go with etc. Could easily be much more than what we were quoted. A discussion with a different builder, for similar sized house, to increase insulation as required, $2-3,000, add double glazing, $14,000, polished concrete floors, similar to fairly standard tiles or carpet. These are very rough estimates. things that would also increase the cost, lots of glazing on north elevation, higher ceilings than standard project home. Large eves to the north, the room sizes are generous, internal masonry wall, draft proofing. Life time running cost would be much lower than conventional house. I live in a cold climate so thermal comfort is important.

Yes, but are you using the gap where rangehood was to centre, or the centre of the cook top. If you have cabinetry along the wall then you can hide the fact that the extractor fan/rangehood is not centre of the cook top. Or that is how it appears in your photos.

we used old fashioned good quality wool berber in rentals and it survived tenants regularly moving in and out and annual shampoos for about ten year and was recycled to another property when we renovated and keep in mind the depreciation rates as it should be able to be replaced more often