In response to your questions - floorboards and decking don't need to run in the same direction as there will be a very visible junction between the two. In addition your decking boards will be quite a different board in colour, width and spacing to your internal floorboards, so there is no need to match the direction when all of these other aspects are different. The same applies when new floorboards meet old floorboards. They will probably be a different species, different colour, different age and different widths to your existing floorboards, but they tell the story of your old home. The only way to get a perfectly seamless transition between new and old is to rip out the old and replace with new. I always like floorboards in hallways to run parallel with the length of the hallway as it just looks better than short floorboards running across. Whatever you decide please let your designer know well in advance as your decision will affect the subfloor layout of the joists, bearers and stumps and may have cost implications. Your aesthetic choice may not be the most cost-efficient for the layout of the subfloor structure.

Hi Phillipa I would sand a section and see the true colour underneath and then decide based on the overall condition. If sanding them doesn't lighten them up enough you could also bleach them. Cheers

@oklouise - that's ok, I've managed to redraw and tweak it a little as well! I think for us, we will actually not use the formal living as a formal living, but as an Office/Library. We work from home quite a lot, so we would need to look out at something, preferably a nice garden or the backyard. At the moment it will be looking out onto the side with 2-3m's of gardens, so that will be very nice :) We can create a nice courtyard area for where the formal living/study windows will look out to. The area that is marked as a study in your plan, maybe is not needed or used to create a larger ensuite and WIR. I quite like the rectangular kids zone, I can't see it fitting two sets of seating, but I can see one half of it having a drop zone where bags/jackets etc can be dumped as they enter the house. At the moment in our current house (which will be knocked down to build this), we don't have a dining space, but we have a huge deck which we entertain on a lot in summer, but in winter, we cannot entertain at all :( That is our biggest gripe! I am wondering if this problem can be solved with having a deck that can be closed off with stacker/bi-fold doors, because to be honest, if we can entertain outside in winter, we would much rather sit outside looking at the gardens then be inside! :) That also means we can shrink the footprint of the house, and thus have a larger backyard. @Paul - We actually did want a side entrance, but I couldn't think of how to work that in .... Wrap around porch would be amazing! @Ruth - The rooms will not be looking out onto a 20cm blank wall :) They will be looking out to 1m gap, thus will have a side garden. Ideally everyone is sitting together in the living zones together and not in their rooms :) Porch hardly counts as a living space! The formal living will double as an office/study, so I don't think that will count as a "living" space. Three living spaces does seem excessive, but there will be three generations of family in the household! I think as the family grows, we need to allow space for kids play areas to evolve to craft areas to evolve into studying areas then to relaxing areas as they start working. Also want some of these living areas to double up as guest sleeping areas for sleep overs and friends coming over :) Would love an internal courtyard for the master! Originally we were trying to get the master to have a view into the backyard with doors that go out to the backyard! I think taking into account what I've said earlier, I will try and do that by removing the formal dining area which we don't really need! I also wanted to have a rooftop garage, but I think that's probably too ambitious taking into account our budget. Everyone's comments have been great! Has given me lots of ideas of what can be changed/updated to improve the floor plan :) :)

Two options for your floor For a Quality Bathroom Renovation 1) Best Option Remove existing yellow tongue, the sheets may extend be under the walls to the adjoining room, can be done...NOT an easy job, hand saw and chisel 2( Hardies Ceramic Tile underlay nailed onto the existing yellow tongue, MUST be nailed to manufacturers specifications. Nails, as specified and spacing as specified. 3) Walls ...Plumb Studs, add noggins for vanity, recessed shaving cabinet et all check top and bottom plates 4) Rough In Plumbing 5) 6) Rough In electrical 7) Insulate walls with Sound Check Insulation,,, Add flashing angles in corners... 8) Fix Hardiflex to specifications 300mm centers, galvanized clouts if using wall tiles up to 15 mm use 6.5 thick villaboard, if over, use 9 mm villoaboard 9) Sikaflex with 11FC all gaps villaboard to floor, 10) Waterproof , apply ( Davco K10 plus, easy one to apply. not toxic nor inflamable whole floor, showed say 300 above shower screen 1 metre to sides of the shower, 600 above bath, vanity, 400 around remaining bathroom walls 11) Shower wall to floor, and about 300 past shower, add Polyester Bandage abt 100 mm wide 12) Fix water bars to, shower and door ( MUST be level ) with Sikaflex 11 FC 13) Second coat of waterproofing to all areas 14 ) Tiler to "top floor"/ lay tile bed, 15) After drying 4/5 days, WATERPROOF on top of tile bed, with another Polyester Bandage in shower area....the waterproof on top of the tile bed is to keep the tile bed dry .. two coats in shower 16) Commence tiling