I would leave the render colour and just tile a trim around the base in a pattern and over the arch of the brick. But I also recalled the pizza oven at a pizza place where I grew up. They make great pizza, but the oven is so cool! You could do something like this!

Well, for us our first 'house' was an old 50's commission house, very sturdy solid brick but small, old, ugly and bad layout (oh that layout was completely wrong)... it was bought solely based on location (young families in the area, good schools, easy access to public transport, shops, capital growth, etc)... we considered renovating and/or extending more than once, considered moving a couple of times, had two past failed attempts at building, and all of the above for various reasons redundancy, GFC, you name it... so we waited, tried, failed, waited, tried again, sweated long summers w/o A/C, one long winter with a broken heater, not to mention the broken dishwasher (arh those dishes) and drove each other mad in that house... nevertheless it had provided us with a roof over our heads and in which we had more happy memories for 14 long, very long years... but now, now that we finally can, we have kept the memories and have gladly said goodbye to this old house earlier in the year, to make way for our new second house which will definitely be our 'forever home' and we cannot wait... my mama always said 'good things come to those who wait' I guess she was right :)

The plan looks a nightmare - bedrooms facing the street, a tiny internal bathroom with no window to the outside (is that legal?) and a "lounge" that looks like it was meant to be a third bedroom. If the internal walls are stud and don't support the roof you're in with a chance, but I'd say to do a proper job the cheap option is NOT going to work. I'd put two bedrooms where the current family room and lounge are and extend the bathroom into the boot room to give window access, or scrap the current bathroom altogether and use some of the space in what is now the kitchen for a new one. Keeping the WC separate is a good move. If you make the street side the social side of the house you can open it right out and create a big front porch that's a social spill-over from the kitchen/dining area, creating indoor-outdoor flow. Planting (two or three shade trees and some stands of tall perennials rather than a "green fence" hedge) keeps your front garden private yet inviting and stops your front porch becoming a stage set for the street. Good luck! I think you'll turn this very ordinary house into a much nicer place to live!

Thank you for al your suggestions: Our budget is around $30K not sure how realistic that is - haven't had any quotes yet. I'm thinking if I don't need to change windows it might help cut costs a bit. My inspriation kitchen is a HedgersConstructions HOme that was featured on Grand Designs in Glen Waverly Waimarie..way out of our budget but I love the quirkiness of the design - the coffee nook, the large island bench, ...the colours....love it. OKLouise : I quite like your idea - although not sure about the seating nook and smaller linen cupboards? The current dining window is floor to ceiling. Kate - I forgot to mention I love the windows and view in that corner so am trying to avoid taking putting a corner pantry in there but I can see why you've gone that route - it seems obvious to do that. I've thought about making space for a kitchen pantry somehow by using the dining space. As it's a sunken room I would need to consider raising the floor for so that the kitchen/family room would all be on one level. NOt sure?? Yes the current dining room is quite long and has 2 doorways either side so it loses practical usable space. Siriuskey & CP: Here's the whole house plan. The outside entertaining area is accessed via the steps next to the meals area. 3DA Design Drafting & 3D visuals - does tha plan put the family room where the dining room currently is? The rumpus room downstairs has evolved over the years as our kids have grown up, left home and returned with partners! Not sure what to do with it long term but it's a big space with lots of potential. At the moment it's been transformed into a bedsitter kind of apartment space for adult children between homes - so any suggestions on how we could transform the space long term there would also be greatly appreciated. .