Yes! Why not! I'm more than "a tad" older than you and can see all the inappropriate plantings here and wish I'd not been so adamant, stubborn and even enthisiastic and passionate back then. I'd like to imagine you 20 years from now enjoying the beautiful fragrance of your plantings and not having to remember, looking at your aged, sore and tired hands, how hard was the task of taming and imprisoning the devil in lilac! There comes a time when even one's passion becomes a chore...Nobody is exempt. My hands are crippled with arthritis. I cannot get a grip on my brushes, thus the hard work has deprived me of a pleasure and a passion....that is the way it is for many so I hope you are immune. Unfortunately ageing is what the body once strong and virile does and it has no mean influence on that part of a creative person's life. I will imagine you 20 yrs from now, sitting peacefully and enjoying the tenacity of your younger days...not wishing you had done anything differently!

Hi Sophie, I immediately agree with the suggestion to remove the angled/chamfered wall to the bedroom entry and create a small lobby, although a good alternative is to consider a straight-run stair and adding a corridor wall to create a 'private' zone - then toilet can stay where it is, tucked in under stair, and privacy (and acoustic/smell separation to the toilet) is created for living and master bedroom. This might mean widening the kitchen room by 100mm or so (noting some reductions mentioned below) and mirroring the bathroom/rumpus arrangement upstairs - it does create a bit more circulation but adds a lovely sense of space when don't have your main circulation through the middle of a room. The laundry pantry is not the usual arrangement - and the distance needed to travel to the linen cupboard is excessive. I would definitely flip the arrangement of laundry /pantry and try to turn the linen into some kind of study nook off the new corridor - and get rid of the tiny desk near the front door!! Imagine that lovely living space with light coming in from the porch which is facing north. That brings up the final comment that north is where the garage is and the main kitchen is therefore south-east facing, this is fine for morning but it is darker for the afternoons. This is a bit harder to change, but the kitchen could be reworked to turn through 90 degrees to face the garden but extend across to the west facade to allow afternoon light in. The nook could be deleted (which blocks afternoon light to deck) and the deck could extend or wrap around the corner for afternoon light. A little corner of deck in the afternoon sun you would never regret! Your draftie designer would need to look at this in detail as the west external wall would might need to shift inwards and south widen into garden, but if afternoon light is important to you then I would encourage you to consider this change too.

Last piece of advice simonsays - never "assume" anything - more often than not people sorting through this stuff on their own misjudge, either in under or over estimating what's involved, incorrectly thinking that it will be either easier or harder than it actually will be to achieve whatever it is......you need to define your various project requirements/details etc as a starting point, and have clarity on what aspects are more or less important for you. This also must include your budget BEFORE you put pen to paper working through the design solution...so if you want a 2-way fireplace, consider it now, and factor it in within the process of working through the costs (which should be occurring simultaneously.........also, remember that "design" is a process, working towards an outcome, which as always is about resolving project requirements to budget within a particular context/conditions.......the project outcome, whatever that is, will be very much determined by the design process and the extent it is invested in and executed....hope this all helps and best of luck with it all :) PD

This floor plan has a single garage, with bedrooms grouped together at the front of the house, the Music Room has been moved to the rear away from the bedrooms as it would make too much noise for those sleeping. It can now be opened up to the family kitchen dining, courtyard and Alfresco and can be used as a play room(/ guest room) giving children great indoor out door play area in view of parents. There's a study with a similar view. A powder room closer to the rear of the house for easy access, The main bathroom is done Japanese style. The master suite has the WIR between the bed and the ensuite, no noise etc when in use to disturb anyone. I have made the passage way extra wide and more like a room which has a linen cupboard, you could certainly make this narrower and add to the bedrooms if you wished, This comes to 204.5 sq m. cheers