For something different, I had a surplus glass wall clock and wanted to put it somewhere safe and it occurred to me to put it under the glass top of a little side table - it was a perfect fit and everyone comments on it and wonders where they can buy one like it! I love the quirkiness of it and it is now a permanent home for my glass wall clock.....

Hi Sasha. What a great space with lots of scope to move your furniture around, and all that natural light! The first thing I noticed was the dark curtains drawing my eye to the dark window frames. Although you clearly can't do anything about the latter, I would definitely change the former. My go-to place for quick affordable pieces is Ikea and my advice would be to measure up the windows and head for their roller blinds and curtains. If you put 3 or 4 block-out blinds up under that pelmet you can control how much light and/or privacy you'd like and by replacing those dark curtains with a lighter linen variety, you'll add a contemporary feel to the room and bring the attention away from the [I assume] aluminium frames. You could get enough to span the entire width or just a couple for the ends. Splash out on a generous tall houseplant like a [dragon tree[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/midcentury-bedroom-midcentury-bedroom-philadelphia-phvw-vp~1905898) for any area's that you might like to add height - I think we tend to fall into the trap of having two visual levels in a room, one being the furniture which tends to end at about hip-height, and the other being art or such for eye level. Both of these are horizontal lines but a tall voluminous plant adds a vertical element like a standard lamp. I'd move yours away from the corner though and place it against a larger expanse of wall. If it has to stay in a corner, put something tall behind/beside it like a narrow book case, or an artwork that's centered with the lampshade. Then it looks like it has purpose. Also, I would move the sofa away from the wall and add a console table as a place to display treasures. Can you swap the long chaise part of the sofa to the other end? Doing this would define that area more and open up the view of your outdoor area. In fact, I'd be tempted to rotate the sofa 90deg to face the windows and put a sofa table/book case behind it for extra storage. I assume that's your TV along the wall to the right - you could shuffle it down towards the window corner and angle it towards the sofa [that would reduce glare on the screen from the window too]. If you do this, you'll create an area for the dining table if you want. I'm not sure from the picture if your table is currently against a wall or if there's more room off to the right that we can't see. If it's against the wall, I'd be moving it across to the left to about where that rug currently sits [a bit further this way though - if that makes sense!] Here's an example of what I'm thinking. That's where the rugs come in. I'd be using two large rugs to both define the areas and protect the carpet. One under the dining table and one under the sofa. These are both areas where the carpet can quickly get grubby! Large artworks are, as you say, a challenge but they don't have to be hung. If you have a large vertical canvas you can prop it against the wall or sit smaller works up on a narrow table [another use for that console table!]. Try to find [or even make] some large canvasses that have a lot of white in them and retire that red pic in the black frame for a while. If you go for the light/white curtains then a complimentary artwork will help to freshen the whole area. Hope I've been able to help a bit!

Hi fb57, Great charming federation house, retain the front and fix the back, then maybe later you can put in a granny flat - depending on cost and local council bylaws. I would not put in an attic - stairs are a good place for mishaps and as we age it might have limited functionality - but if its something you have your heart set on it might prove worth while. It appears that you are competent enough to do a decent measure up plan, going from what you have posted - you might need to take a few photo and a few other dimension to get a good design from someone working online. The idea is to get a design that you are happy with and then get a local competent Drafts-person to do your working drawings for a Building Permit and then get it built with a Builder of your choice. This would result in my opinion in a significant saving and a design of your choice, especially if you are willing to do some of the legwork with council and other authorities. To get a good design that you feel is a solution to your requirements, you need to produce a variety of design schemes (plans elevations perspectives etc.) and this can be done online with any competent Building Designer that you can get along with. It will not take one go at it - and it will not be quick, as you need time to digest every scheme but generally it works out in the long run. These are some of the things I would look at: 1. The possibility of breaking up the build into stages - maybe stage one do the renovations at the back and the stage 2 place in a granny flat. 2. As you have good access on both sides of the property I would place a new garage on the largest width and possible gate and walkway on the other side to give individual access to the granny flat. The new garage would be as closely to the front as possible, with the new fence an gate on the other side it would greatly improve security. 3. Depending on budget I would provide a bathroom shower and toilet with a walk in robe to the main bedroom and redo the kitchen and laundry if required. 4.The area next to the lounge area I would develop into an external entertainment area. 5 Since you mentioned that you have a "Fibro Extension" it implies to me that you may have asbestos on the property - get an expert in and determine if you need to remove asbestos when you renovate - this is a dangerous material and you should take all precautions possible to avoid long term damage. 6. An indication of the position of your neighbors windows and setback might also help in providing a design that complies with your planning laws and respects your adjoining neighbors. Like all things it will take a few revisions to get it right , but if you are willing to work at it, it will payoff in the end. The first thing is to draw up the existing conditions to scale so that an initial proposal showing possibilities can be worked on. I would be willing to work on this project with you online, I hope this is of some help. Regards Michael Manias mm407p@gmail.com

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