my 2 bobs worth. as someone who works with the elderly-the en-suite for your MIL is still not right. if she ever needs walking assistance,especially with a frame, getting past that door into the en-suite will be a nightmare. swap the vanity position for the shower. ensure there is no step-down into the shower area, and ditch the shower screen for a curtain. will make access much easier. especially if she ever needs assistance showering..it will be virtually impossible, and dangerous, with your current design. thinking long term..MIL will not always be there with you, so presumably you and your hubby will at some point end up in the master bedroom? consider the long terms implications of this-no good building something that suits her now, but would need major modification to suit your needs later. I would actually do away with the WIR at this time. Plan to add it later, if you would want it for yourself, but i would just use free standing furniture for her-no doubt she probably has her own, so it would be nice to have some of her own furnishings when she moves in with you - to make it feel more like her home. it will free up some floor space, and make access to the ensuite easier, without having to turn corners. I would also do away with the extended passage into the master. Take that door back in line with the other bedroom. Currently, it adds nothing, and may well limit your furniture placement for your family room, as the walkway will need to go around it. i have issue with the 2 person shower and double vanity in the same room. s the kids get older, they /you probably wont be comfortable using the room when you are showering, so mornings will be slowed down. Have you considered a 3 way bathroom/toilet/vanity area? We had this in our house, and it was the best decision ever. The shower and bath were in one room, with a separate toilet, and then a double vanity which opened to the passage. Everyone could use everything at the same time, without encroaching on each others privacy. Not sure about your state -but here, the toilet door would have to open out-if someone collapses in the powder room, you would not be able to get in with the door opening in, as they would be blocking the door. I do empathize with your dilemmas. We have spent 7 years planning an extension and remodel, then 2 years (!!!) working on the design with an architect, going backwards and forwards, and then the last 12 months nearly, changing and fine-tuning along the way as things were being built. It is not easy, but worth it. Having said that, you are unlikely to ever get it perfect, as your needs will change, your likes/dislikes will vary, and you will see other peoples homes and go "why didn't we do that". (Now if only i could take that on board myself, LOL)

Good luck with the process. Just a couple of thoughts, the slightly smaller l.h.s. bedroom, moving the cupboards to the end on the bed ( if you can lengthen the house) will muffle the tv noise, as well as leaving a wall for the extra window for cross ventilation. For the r.h.s. Bedroom (main?) the wardrobe could be against the wall behind the bed, with the bed moved forward and the wardrobe and standing room hidden behind a full height wall accessible from either side. Again the room will need to be lengthened. I would like to consider the rest of the house but without comments about style of house (country, contemporary) it makes it a bit difficult. Would like to see the bathroom tweeted to allow access from b1, more like a two way bathroom. Would like you to think about a bigger south side patio to allow viewing or opening from the lounge, depending on the view, or the laundry room move to the other end on the small patio and incorporate a toilet room with it's own hand basin or powder room, to take the pressure off the main bathroom. Again without drawings of the outside of the house the balance is a bit more difficult to see. One you have a reasonable idea of what you like, need, and want, a professional designer will adjust the room sizes for balance and proportion, and make and draw suggestions to make it easier to visualise. Again, best of luck, and don't look for perfection, just perfect for you. I've been involved with building two homes and am renovation my existing one, and am still learning, and allowing the site to influence the layout.

I'm still concerned that the covered alfresco area is located to the NE, it will block much of your winter sunshine from entering your living areas, making your home colder in winter. Personally, I'd try to locate your alfresco o the eastern side of your living areas (& somehow moving the master further SE). However, if you are going to stick with your current alfresco location, I'd recommend you change from a hipped roof alfresco, to a gable roof alfresco. If you make it an opened gable, & have a cathedral ceiling you'll end up with quite a bit more winter sunshine entering your house. Similar to the images below.

Just to confirm I have taken the great ideas presented here as advice only and have no intention to do some dodgy diy reno's. With the exception of a couple of quirky exposed timbers as you can see in my pictures there are no other exposed beams. As you can also see from the pictures there is a large roof space on the right (east) side of the house but the ceilings themselves are flat with a slight dip on the north wall. Based on my own personal experiences I would have to agree with Two's Company that there is a tendency towards rendered brick in WA (although there are still many exposed brick houses in my suburb) while double enclosed double garages are also highly desirable. I would also agree that toilets within the main bathroom and non traditional laundries may be considered unusual by many (but not all). Ensuites with toilets however are still very common. Also due to the nature of our work we would prefer the laundry separated from food/kitchen area. For a 4x2 house it is only around 155m2 excluding carport/alfresco which makes the rooms feel quite cramped, hence the desire to open up the family room. However, as Two's Company suggests we will need to first get a builder/eng in to check load bearing walls etc as this will undoubtedly affect what we can achieve within our budget. Having said that I still excited by many of your ideas and with luck hopefully can work some of them into the budget. Cheers all :)