Oh C'mon V Richards...every epoch has its treasures. B4 you make a mad run for it stop a while and consider the period and the reasons for the style...it can be extremely enlightening....unless its not the period you want to escape from but from some of the opinions. I spent many years of my youth outside of Australia living surrounded by old ruins in Europe. I forgot what it was like here. When finally I returned to Australia and found myself living in some of the 60s and 70s places..I found much to admire and wonder about. I may not have fallen in love with much of it but there was a certain mistique and a feel that I can still conjure when talking about certain places. Not saying that it was all romantic and pleasant but it conveyed something of the era and the kind of Aussie from those days.

Art-deco was popular in the first quarter of the twentieth century, whereas this home was probably built in the last quarter of the 20th century. I would not categorize it as art deco, even though it has some art deco influenced lines. Without seeing more of the home I would guess that it is more post-modern, and possibly built in the late 1980's, early 1990's. Post Modern architecture often "borrowed" elements from architectural history, and this home has borrowed some art-deco style. Houses from this period were commonly rendered, often with horizontal banding, made a feature of the entry, and incorporated quirky, playful, architectural features that today seem a little irrational. elements.

thank you for your advise. I have put images of the outside of the house as that where the dining room is from there we will be bringing the decking out 3 metres which will create an out - indoor eating. this is the most finished room giving you an idea of the colour and house. all blue grey tones. sorry about stuff around but a reno house is hard to find spaces below is kitchen as is looking out to the dining through that open servery but we are taking most of that wall out to make an open space - its very small step down below into the dining through the left door way. below is the now dining. the table is very small and hard to pull chairs in and out of hence the indoor out door considerations. belwo is the outdoor looking in. from those doors we are putting a 3 metre decking i think. we have a lot of yard so its easy to do

Hi Amir, thank you. Yes, budgets are usually an issue. There is no real issue with having the kitchen as above to minimise moving plumbing and electrical - I totally get that. I like the addition of an area that denotes an entrance foyer, as in the above sketch. I don't know the style or era of the home, but privacy screens are a great way to delineate spaces without putting up walls. For example, the back wall of the 'foyer' could be a privacy screen and also between the kitchen and lounge areas. Laminex has a great range of indoor and outdoor privacy screens. Also, could you make the kitchen island big enough so you can dine there too? Kitchen islands can be two levels, one for cook and prep and the other for dining - or the same height and use bar stools. I think this also comes down to how you like to eat, whether you entertain a lot and whether you have kids. This could mean you don't have to use space for a dining table or just have a smaller, round table for four in a corner. I hope these suggestions give you some more ideas about privacy and the best use of space :-) Cheers, Penelope