unless you have 6 people for dinner every day i suggest swop the dining table for smaller extendable table with stowaway folding chairs for extra guests and try moving the desk into the lounge to create enough space in the dining area for small twin lounge chairs with full height shallow storage beside fireplace and consider removing the wall in the lounge and retaining the wall between kitchen and dining d the wall between bathroom and kitchen could have full height in wall pantry storage (many cans, bottles, packets, glasses etc will fit inside a 10-30cm deep cabinet with larger in wall cabinets above the stove or in the dining roomthe easiest cheapest way to brighten the dining room would be to install Solar Skylights (check out illume or Arcol brands available at Bunnings)

DB.....A LOT of ideas and advice flying around here.......skimming through I see you are endeavouring to establish a basic concept for a designer/architect to consolidate for you, which is great.......whilst you may think this is a logical approach to achieve the best outcome, you are arguably just throwing around random ideas rather than properly resolving/focusing on the critical aspects ........my advice is do this: firstly clearly ascertain two things on paper, not in plan or building format but in writing...that is 1. List all your requirements/needs/goals and 2. Nominate a budget. Next, identify/research a logical local designer/architect option and approach them with this information....A designer's job is to come up with an appropriate concept/solution that best balances your requirements, aligned with a budget and of course make it viable within context/site. Sure, you want a cost effective/modest result, that's fine, and that will influence the solution, but as a general comment it feels like there is massive potential being missed considering the site..it dens;t necessarily have to be that big or fancy, but you have to put the EXPERIENCE of the home front and centre of the process, and not just think of it as a kitchen or whatever laid out this way or that ....This is about an amazing site and the living experience of that and the design should be based on this and bring together your specific requirements elegantly balanced in context......The issue I have scrolling through all this is that you have all these almost disconnected ideas of building form, but you have this incredible site....... the process of resolving the spaces ideally needs to develop from cues of the immediate environment/site in order to make the most of it since you are pursuing a customised solution.....agree with MB, every project has a budget and ultimately from experience this is in general the ultimate/overriding constraint. This project could be anything upwards from $500K and it will come down to the working out how far you want to take it, and what your priorities are over various levels.......this one has seriously significant potential -make sure you make the most of it as you're truly fortunately to have this opportunity to build a home for you and your family to enjoy there.......best of luck :) PD

for the banquette to be wide enough to lay on it would need to be at least as deep as a narrow single bed which makes it too wide to sit on comfortably without a very thick back rest or a giant pile of cushions to clutter up the space...why not consider a back and sideless freestanding daybed so the primary purpose is laying down and the sitting to dine is only short term and doesn't need a backrest ....this example or similar with taller legs would be a simple economical way to add the day bed feeling without expensive built ins and two along the window wall could look quite inviting with a simple throw and scatter cushion

Ashjean I have had a play with your house and suggest the following very basic layout at this time to see if you like it I would have the garage on the Battleaxe drive way along with laundry, bathroom and study, this could be built on the boundary with the eaves on this side reduced if needed, Windows would be high light up under any eaves. I suggest that the bedrooms are on the western boundary which will be quieter and cooler with plantings, the hard surfaces of the driveways will store any day time heat that will be released over night Keeping the floorplan simple with removing the extra passage to separate the bedrooms and bathroom and using a simple roof without too many extra ridges will save you money. Can you please confirm the front width of your block and the length