Hi, we don't have external access directly to our laundry and have not experienced any problems or concerns. I need to walk through the open plan lounge/dining/kitchen area to go from the laundry to outside and back again. I don't think it is essential or even necessarily desirable to have direct external access to your laundry, but it really depends on how you live. I wash every day (2 or 3 loads), air dry everything outside and then fold all our clothes at the dining room table ready for them to be put away.

Airbnb is a great income earner and you sound very positive, having just stopped dealing in holiday accommodation which included Airbnb. Very good friends have a newly built smallish two story house which they use the lower level for Airbnb and any family and friends to visit, it can be securely closed off for Airbnb guest. I suggestion to you is to use the front of your house for Airbnb keeping the rear private. Your Airbnb accommodation can be 1 -2 bedroom with kitchenette, we always locked the 2nd bedroom when not required, saved on extra linen and unexpected guests. If you leave the second bedroom open and not included in the rate the guests will always use it, from experience. The kitchenette only needs a bench under the window with a small fridge, MW , sink, and small table and chairs for cold days. Your new master and ensuite next to the new deck, you walk between the robes which have a joining cabinet above when entering the ensuite. The laundry separate with or without exterior access, you could even have the laundry opening through the kitchen wall. The family bathroom has a bath with shower over. A large linen/storage cupboard in the living room, this can also be used to help separate the guests wing from the private. Guests could have the under cover front verandah for Alfresco dining along with a small portable electric BBQ oven.

Hmm... as much as I agree that a scullery in the original plans is wasted space the location of the laundry illogical (where is the clothesline, not down the side of the house with its 1m distance to the boundary that's for sure). I'm not sure the second version is really much better. Here's why.... 1. The scullery looks like it's there just to make use of what would otherwise be a useless space in the plans. Typical builders solution, make it into some fashionable do-dad so it looks logical. 2. The laundry behind kitchen makes sense from the plumbing point of view but otherwise it terribly placed. I wouldn't want to walk through my kitchen to do a load of washing. And where is the clothesline? Miles away down the back of the house with the only route between it and the laundry either through the living room or by circumnavigating the entire house via a tiny walkway down the side. Neither are really good solutions. 3. But removing the scullery doesn't actually make your kitchen any larger. All the builder has done is pushed the original floorplan to the back wall, creating a slightly wider walkway in front of the island. wasted space again. 4. Shoehorning the laundry between the bedrooms is also a terrible placement for it. Ideally the laundry should be at the rear entrance to the house close to the clothesline. When you have a large heavy basket of wet washing you don't want to be walking the whole 30m length of your block to hang it out. I'll be honest the floor plan isnt fantastic. That dog leg hallway between the bedrooms created solely because of the pokey family bathroom with no toilet in it. A master ensuite that dwarfs the family bathroom by miles....just why? Shouldn't the most heavily used bathroom in the home actually be as large as an ensuite at least. A laundry accessible only through the kitchen and miles from the clothesline. But of the two plans the original is the least awful just because it places the laundry as far back as possible and it doesn't cost you any extra. These are the problems of using stock plans but you can always accept the layout as is and change it later if it becomes unlivable. If I didn't specifically need a scullery I would forgoe the planned sink in it and instead have it fitted out with cupboards for extra storage space. That way it can be used for any purpose. Who needs a scullery when we have dishwashers?

I would reduce the size of bed 2 to 3000 and give the 800 to the bathrooms to get decent vanities and storage, The laundry turn the washing machine and tub to run along the window allowing you to prop a broom in the corner and to give more space access machine. I have two bathrooms, no en-suite and moved my laundry into one of the bathrooms behind sliding doors. Love it, but I have storage space. included. Where do you keep your mop and vacuum etc?