Yes, all the Houzzers have been extraordinarily helpful. I am sure in the end, it will be a beautiful room. With regards to the change of sofa style, I was unsure of my ability to keep the white leather clean - particularly the stitching. By finally going with the "Julio" it is slightly more comfy sofa than the "Ariel". It has a higher back and I feel the "granite" colour will give me less hassles. In reality, the "granite" colour has slight yellow/creme undertones which tie back better with the curtains but this doesn't really show up in pictures. Golly, I hope I am on the right track. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. Keep them coming please

you are super-patient!!! :) :) thank you :) I'm so sorry but I do actually have a couple MORE thoughts!! argh! there are just so many different options.... and this is a bit of an all consuming puzzle to try to solve. here they are: 1) study could become main bathroom - leaving new Bed 4 as per plan since it is bigger & a better size for guests. in this option, some area could be stolen from the study to boost ensuite size - even if it just made the ensuite 1 full metre. Ideally not requiring study window to change. 2) WC could potentially be separate either within this space OR at the back of the old kitchen (allowing for the remaining, longish hall wall to be shorter again) oklouise you may think some of these ideas are not very workable & I'd be so glad for your feedback & comment (and anyone else's comments as well), it's really so incredibly helpful - unbelievably helpful - to have everyone's input. i'd love recommendations on which ideas & options might work best for that balance between function & budget

answering your questions: change the sliding door to a bench height sliding window and use the salvaged sliding door in the western end of the dining room where the best entry position is for the deck, you MUST have a proper legal drains do not consider anything else...the drain pipe for the garage laundry can be on top of the concrete floor, behind the washing machine and through the sink cabinet and/or under built in storage and only needs a few cms not a whole floor and no stepped up area that you would see or trip over.. the laundry can't be in a separate room as there's not enough space for a separate laundry without compromising the size of the garage...a laundry cupboard 80 cm deep is enough for the washing machine (allowing for the drainage pipe) you could use the old line cupboard to store anything you want but it's not cost effective to change, the entry foyer is already as big as in many modern homes and there's generous flatpac biw space in the small study.... the family bathroom is 2380 x 2370 (ie the old study minus 1m for hall way and wall thickness and, arranged exactly as shown to allow for the wide window there should be space for a bath up to 1800 x 750, vanity about 1200 x 500 and shower space 1200 x 800 and leftover space makes the small linen cupboard with the door deliberately opening towards the shower to use the back of the door for hanging racks for towels and clothes....btw i understood your priority was maximizing separate sleeping rooms and minimising costs...my last plan has five separate sleeping rooms plus the lounge with sofa bed totalling sleeping places for at least 10 people plus the potential for bunks in the garage so you need to decide what is most important and where you're prepared to compromise

oklouise, your drawing is so good! I see what you and others have mentioned about how incorporating flow is really important, somehow even just looking at your plan makes me feel like it would be a calming space. Thank you for creating it. Do you think it would work to move the guest room alongside the sitting? So they would sit side by side (similar to bed 2 & 3) and would both be entered via the entryway hallway at the front of the house. Both rooms would then also have north facing windows. If this were possible, could the master then slide down and occupy what was the guest room, and thereby leaving the original alfresco where it was? I'm hearing that a covered alfresco joined to the house is not too popular on this thread but its something we are quite attached to (for better or worse!). Do you think that could work? There are so many good elements to your drawing but I really do like the entryway/garage/mudroom intersection. For me I would probably swap the study and the laundry around, and we definitely will be installing a outdoor clotheslines too. The drying room would mainly be used on rainy days and overnight. Overnight as we have bats in the area.... some days I get to clean up after all three Bs - bat, bird and baby...