After I had finished my Archi Masters I was working for an architecture firm who also did a small amount of work for a volume builder. They were actually a pretty good quality builder and at least got the orientation of their 'pre-designed' plans correct. We had the ability to make minor changes to every job and it pained me to see so many simple to implement passive options not being incorporated. Had most of their clients known that they would be saving MONEY over the longterm by making a few minor changes to suit their site, they all would have done it. The problem is unless someone can sell this idea to them as a financial/lifestyle choice, many just think it is about saving the world. It is a no-brainer if you have in interest in it, but for those who don't know, there is no-one there selling it to them, especially on the lower end of the market.

Depends on where you live. A lap pool down a large deck gives the best of both worlds and provides a nice water feature for a deck. I need water to truly relax. Bigreader - where in FNQ did you live?

Hi SonaandDi, In case you haven't come across it, here is the link to my finished kitchen: https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/5598603/renovation-of-our-1956-red-brick-triple-fronted-home-all-done This layout has the potential for issues, but I tried to factor those in by noting where the fridge doors came to when fully opened. I should have allowed a little more width for the fridge gap, as the theory didn't quite translate in practice: on the plans I allowed the minimum of 20mm either side of fridge, but ended up with only about 13mm (was not fun getting the fridge in!). So my suggestion is to make sure there is 50mm either side of fridge. eg the fridge space is 1000mm wide for french door fridge around the 900mm mark. Even so, my doors do open fully (vegie drawers slide out unobstructed), as the doors themselves sit forward of the nib wall on the right. If your fridge space is wider, you won't need to sit the fridge out the full thickness of the doors, which may look more streamlined. But make sure you allow for 50mm space at the back of fridge. This will decide the depth of your nib wall. I calculated mine as 50mm plus the depth of the fridge to the start of the doors. You might prefer to make it a bit deeper, as the doors have more room to open due to the extra width of the space. It isn't annoying having the door opening over the pantry entry. It isn't often that someone wants to get to the pantry at the exact moment someone else opens the fridge. Even if that happened, you could get past if you couldn't wait: Good luck with your renovation! Because you can't be on site, I would always factor in more wiggle room. Let me know if I can help with any more info - I could talk about this stuff all day long!

The issue is not so much the cladding material, but rather the articulation of the extended building form. This could be a simultaneously exciting, interesting and sympathetic extension utilising shingle cladding that wouldn't necessarily reference Hampton's. If there's anything too Hamptons going on here it's the small proportioned windows with the external shutters that give it a bit of a "dollhouse"popped on the top look. You've got a stunning beautiful home frontage, but the extension form is kind of sticking out/up the back and the fenestration looks out of balance by being perfectly symmetrical. Federation architecture is not symmetrical like the Victorian era predecessors, rather it is an asymmetric compositional balance that in your case should be recognised and countered appropriately with the design of the extension. When selecting appropriate extended cladding material it should be working towards texturally balancing the building and being complimentary overall. Professional recommendation you revisit the articulation of the upper extension, at the very least loosening up the fenestration with more glazing and potentially a more complex roof form with a smaller projecting gable (offset) as a reference to the frontage. The cladding choice becomes less critical, and shingle texture that ties in the roofing texture could work well. Weatherboard is bringing something new in, and if you go flush panel without a more contemporary design and articulation it will look wrong Good luck PD :) www.pauldistefanodesign.com