In a previous post on this discussion forum I described my laundry bin...a 30L cardboard barrel which I lined with an old shower curtain and decorated still reigns supreme on the lid of my top loder, Nobody knows what it is and its a never ending source of admiration from an artistic angle. Lacking floor space the only option was to sit it up there or out on the veranda.It works as a cat toy too. It has, however, acquired some vents in the lid since some of my art shirts are often a bit oily and I learnt that some oils tend to self combist in enclosed spaces and can be the cause of house fires. Sometimes hiding things in plain sight is a good option. With Tribbletrouble45142k7Trek...Your baskets sound pretty...why hide such nice functional souvenits!

I have actually imported furniture myself without a freight forwarder/ shipping company a couple of times. it is fiddly but not impossible. I saved heaps if you don't count my time. And it was a bit of an adventure. It did give me an appreciation of the expenses importers have though and these shipping places (myUS etc) have to add their margin of course. so for anyone considering-anything timber has to have pest certification and that has to be within 3 weeks (I think) of arrival. Then the shippers in their wisdom had put the container on a timber pallet for which I didn't have a pest fumigation certificate so I had to pay $33 to have the pallet destroyed. But with a lot of family in rural/farming businesses I don't mind the strict quarantine. We are very lucky with our relatively clean produce. The customs people at the airport are very discouraging and keep telling you to use a freight forwarder etc (my stuff was already at Botany so no way), there were all sorts of odd fees etc (eg AQIS container fee $6), terminal fee. All sorts of things but it was fun and I saved a fortune, even after GST (I had to pay GST on the freight too, I guess as a 'service', which I wasn't expecting). Mind you the dollar was better then. It wouldn't be worth it for just a lamp but for more stuff...... But then if you were bringing in that much stuff maybe you wouldn't need to save the money. they also required that the invoice from the supplier of the furniture clearly showed what currency it was in. This was a hassle as I had just bought retail in the US. What currency do customs think a receipt/invoice from a shop in California shop would be in? But that's where the bureaucracy was frustrating. a final tip, the freight forwarders usually only include delivery to kerbside. They were even very unwilling just to help me get it into the garage (let alone down the steps/indoors) so you may need someone to help you receive the goods at home and get them at least out of the weather.

Hi Liss, I 100% echo the above from Retro & MB. Changing function, particularly into dual occupancy territory will trigger a host of knock-on effects including fire rating, energy rating etc...and of course this all comes down to (as always) the B word - Budget You are best to seek professional design advice/service/assistance, and as Retro alluded to, you are at what we call the "feasibility" stage of the project in which project viability and options are explored/teased out. This involves clarification of specific requirements, budget and & contextual and regulatory constraints applicable. Honestly this is way beyond a dilemma forum - experienced/professional input will enable the most effective path forward to avoid the as you put it "going around in circles", which as an aside many people find themselves doing simply because they don't know what they're doing! We do this for a living for a reason, and we have specific services structured for this stage of the process to professionally manage and assist people to achieve high value outcomes. Happy to provide further details, if you are interested in how this all works when approached professionally. Cheers PD :)

I would not recommend containers... by the time you configure them, pop in footings, add doors, windows, insulate and roofing IMHO you may as well build a conservative plan with just what you need and or thought to add to it later. If the site is exposed to elements there may be extra requirements which building from scratch can incorporate but containers may not. All in all I think it would be much easier to go simple and conventional. Happy to assist with designing for you..... First thing to do is look up PASSIVE SOLAR DESIGN and make sure you use the sun in living rooms to heat the home for FREE! Cheers Margot