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.

Hi Em, I'm not suggesting that you have to start again, only that it may provide you with a better outcome than trying to work with what you already have. By starting with a blank canvas, new possibilities arise. I agree with most of Amelias comments and I'm not interested in getting further involved beyond my general comments. Good passive solar design is now a fundamental of good design practice these days and that was not evident in the single level plan you published. It's not just about northern sun, which can be excluded in summer by a simple roof overhang, it's also about excluding the extremes of the sun from the east and primarily from the west. So you can see that your games room will suffer the hot afternoon sun in summer as it had a lot of glazing facing the western sun. Protect that elevation with a blank wall to exclude the sun or at least restrict the glazing to the west by incorporating either slot windows or high level windows that gain protection with screens or roof overhangs. Open up the games room with glazing to its north and east. Create a small courtyard perhaps with some luscious landscaping or water feature that works for both the games room and the living room. Returning the glazing will allow for large glass doors to slide back into pocket walls bringing the garden into the home and blurring the line between home and garden, thus making it feel bigger. By incorporating more glazing to the north you will visually "widen" your home, making it feel less restricted because the room boundary will visually move to the fence line while at the same time providing better solar access during the winter months, which helps warm the home and maintain a year round comfort level. Sydney has a mild winter compared to southern Australia. Take a look at some of the homes designed for narrow east facing sites in the northern beaches of Sydney or on the far north coast in places such as Salt. They all have similar siting as you have. They all offer mass glazing to the North and open their living up to the north and the east with pools, terraces and outdoor living areas etc. Don't be scared of experimenting with simple shapes at first. Just pencil in where you want the various functions to be placed and make sure that they work together. Move them around until you think you have the relationship right and go from there. A well planned house is a dream to live in. A poorly designed house will remind you every day that there is something wrong. So invest well in the design because it will pay dividends. Sure, seek help but be cautious because the help can be confusing which is why I have tried to take a general approach to it all rather than squawk over this or that. It's your home and you have to live in it, not me, not AU or OK or anyone else. Keep it simple and have it function like a well oiled machine and you will love it.

Thanks a million Oklouise. I am thrilled by this - the amount of thought and time that you have so kindly put into this for me is amazing. I am eternally grateful. I agree with the changes you have made , especially the balcony over the courtyard, it certainly would make a lot more sense to have it on the front of the house, Perhaps in front of the Mfamily room.

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