Wow! I've just woken (time difference Down Under) to check the enormous response from all. I'm absolutely thrilled & I will need some time to read through and analyse all the wonderful input, thanks so much. I'm very keen to search MCM. I love Queenslanders but thought that was trying to change the style into something its not to so was swaying towards a bungalow style of a home. We are located in the hinterland of the Gold Coast in Qld and want a home that suits our surrounds. I do not like modern I like cottage/bungalow style if thats possible. Its now 'get ready' for school time, so I'll be back. Thank you for all your ideas and opening my mind. Some ideas I have in pics attached.

oklouise, thank you for taking the time to pull together such a comprehensive and thoughtful design. There are lots of elements we like, and there are a few things we feel will be problematic. The reorienting of the house towards the East doesn't sit well with our vision of our living areas facing into the back yard. I love the courtyard area (screened room) you've created, but would prefer something like that at the back of the house, not the side. There is insufficient room to make the NE side of the house the 'back yard'. I like the storage you've created in the hall way but I still see the need to remove the old fireplace in the old kitchen, if it's cost effective and structurally possible. We'd like all bedrooms of a similar or standard size, so I'm not too sure about the smallish bedroom remaining the same size (the one with the toilet cut out of it). We'd like the front room to remain the main bedroom, and thus include an ensuite and WIR, rather than pushing the main bedroom to the back of the house. We don't want or need a third bathroom - just unnecessary and more room to keep clean!! Plus, there's no room for guests, LOL. We definitely want the garage to sit at the left hand side of the house, but probably a double carport moreso than a garage. We also like the idea of a built in desk/study that can be closed off - without building a whole study (room). So much to think about and your plan has provided some really different ways of thinking about the floor plan and orientation. Thank you for this. The parents outdoor retreat is divine!

You would have to ask SCA. I believe the gable roofs are for council (streets-cape). The cladding being corrugated, cost (pre-finished) and proximity to the coast (durability).

Just some general comments , I guess the first thing would be what is your budget , and combined with that , is this an upmarket central city location or on a rural block , or any combination in between ? Why I ask that is because I'm wondering what you want to achieve , and thinking further down the track , the resale ? For example , Bed 3 looks quite large , Bed 2 is awkward in that it looks like you have to go into the master to get to it , and conversely you have to go through it to get to the ensuite that isn't then really an ensuite . As Kate says , dimensions will help too -- my gut feeling is that a couple of the bedrooms are larger than average , but it may be that the kitchen and dining are smaller than average , for example . Then theres things like the only real entrance looks to be off the carport , which walls are load bearing ( especially around that 'cross' where the kichen , dining , lounge and entrance hall all meet ) , is the carport still a carport or has it been enclosed , can you change the main entrance to somewhere else ( maybe around the 'garden' side ? ) . Your ideas and queries seem to address the 'right now' , and maybe you have thought of the future , but you'll end up with less bedrooms , maybe still have some quirks , it'll be harder to resell if you go down that route , or almost need most of it redoing if you stay and do more renovations and alterations in say 10 years . A full renovation may be over-capitalising , or it may be that you intend to stay 30 years and its what you ideally want , and money is secondary -- there's nowhere near enough info . If it is deemed worthy doing an even larger scheme , it can even be planned so that it can be done in stages , as needs and finances change , but it does need more planning at this stage , otherwise you'll potentially redo some parts .