@ deanli14...the problem is that the neighbours don't want the tennis court fence as it is..more they want it lowered...thus depriving johnmcintyre of his privacy and the local Council is dictating what can and cannot be done....its not about planting for privacy...quite the reverse, the neighbours want the view! I've had an idea that might help. It is my understanding that today anyone wanting to build or alter any structure can employ a private building surveyor/inspector to approve the plans and then the final structure...and I understand that this applies everywhere in Australia. So there is a way to by-pass all the nonsense. The Council does not have to know about or approve anything. You are employing (paying) a private building surveyor/inspector to help you get what you want on your own property. I think its all got beyond a joke. Just by-pass all the red tape and the neighbours! I've extended my house to incorporate a very large semi enclosed veranda, I've had a large water tank erected on a tall stand so it gravity feeds into my house..and have erected several 3m tall greenery covered screens along my fenceline adjoining the neighbours.. for reasons of privacy.....all without the local Council even knowing about it because I employed a private building surveyor for it all from start to finish. You would be paying him to be on your side and get you what you want and he does not have to submit to Council, he is his own boss and your client. You'd need to get a draftsman to draw up the plans to start with...then it should be smooth sailing.

A few things to consider indeed, but what a great space to work with... my humble opinion on some of your points and queries... 3) if you haven't already got the cabinet/shelves unit yet see if you can get one with sliding cabinet doors 4) great idea, so avoid any heavy items of furniture (e.g. big armchair) in the centre of the room that will be harder to move/relocate and think more ottomans, bean bags, etc You are absolutely spot on with placing the wall units on the 4m wall and keeping the slightly wider 4.2m wall for seating facing the outdoors a) clearance depends on how much and what kind of traffic going through, e.g. doorways approx 700-800, passage 1000-1200, but to get around a coffee table to access couch or get around behind a chair at least 500-600 and more if you can accommodate... and of course depends on the type of furniture, e.g. if you have cabinet doors that swing open (as opposed to sliding) then you have to allow enough clearance to open the door and access the cabinet comfortably b) I think you can do better than a 2-seater in such a big space... e.g. let's say wall units base cabinets are 600 deep even with swing open doors of 400 you'll need clearance of say 1000-1200 from that wall on the right, which out of the 4.2m wall at the bottom leaves you with 3m... so I would fill up the bottom left corner by having a 3-seater/chaise modular along the remaining 3m with the 'return' chaise on the left along the 1.7m wall c) yes, you'll definitely need one large 'area' rug to define the space... you could even use two different rugs and create two zones... one large rectangular one framed by the couch and wall units and a second smaller round or asymmetrical one closer to the sliding doors paired up with a bean bag or big floor cushions d) I think a tall indoor palm/fern in a nice large pot just in the corner of the units and wall (to your left as you enter the space) would be a welcoming touch and tie in with the outdoors Good luck ;)

Thanks for all your entries. And those are some marvellous photos of your own spaces being changed. Our congratulations to @how2girl who was randomly selected as the winner of Darren Palmer's book! We will be in contact and send this book out to you very soon. Stay tuned for more contests in the near future. HouzzAU Team

Thanks everyone for your comments so far. Some great points have been made and I'm going to take each one of the away to have a think about. In the meantime, I've asked my draftsman to provide me all the measurements to existing and proposed so I can share it here as soon as I get them. Some more info: We're located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Our budget is approximately around the $200k...this is so we don't over capitalise on the property. We thought about building to one boundary because we are of the thinking that we need more width to achieve the space we want. As a guesstimate, I believe the block is 12m or so wide. Each lane way is approximately 1.5m (3m combined) which only leaves us with an internal width of 9m (minus walls). We chose to explore building to the eastern boundary because existing utilities such as hot water system, ducted heating are already setup there. Moving it to the western boundary would cost $$. The eastern laneway has nice new concrete paving and allows us to more easily access it from our carport.The other reason for potentially building to the east is because we're the 2nd last house on the street (near a corner). We get a bit of traffic on our street but more so on the street parallel the western wall. I thought it would be more peaceful moving the house away from the traffic and noise rather than towards it. Also, the addition of the dining area (connected to kitchen and alfresco) will give us a bit more privacy from the street (parallel to western wall) when we're out on the alfresco/deck. Just my thinking but happy to get some further feedback. We're happy to consider keeping the current building boundary if we can achieve the design we want etc. I've attached a few pictures of the existing low ceilings towards the back of the house. The pics show the ceiling from kitchen and towards the back door (curtains are closed). The ceiling is about 2.4m and you can see the exposed beams which makes the ceiling feel even lower. I'm only 1.6m and I can touch them with my finger tips if I try... Whether it's a full knock down or increasing the height of the roof, I think it's the one thing we're about improving/removing. Hope that's some more info for everyone to go off... Thanks again for everyone who has already replied and made some great points. Cheers