Pedestal with sculpture/vase and Painting the 23" wall that faces the front doors a different color, seem to be the winners :)

JE C - It obviously varies greatly depending on the scope of products you would like to control. Typically in a new build scenario, budgeting 5-10% of your build cost will give you a professionally designed and installed system including light control, security and access control, CCTV, Audio & Video solutions, networking and wi-fi solution. This would then be controlled by dedicated touchscreens and switches along with your existing smart phones and tablets, all from within one app.

We are doing a major renovation in the downstairs area of our home in which we will be replacing walls, ceilings etc. I was thinking that it might be a good opportunity to incorporate some home automation options. The budget won’t extend to CBus but I was wondering if there are some more affordable options. At this point am mainly thinking of dimming and timing lights. There seems to be a few options - Clipsal Wiser, Phillips Hue or LIFX. I plan to run data cable from each room to a patch panel in the garage to cater for future connectivity needs. Can anyone give advice on this?

Thank you all for your comments. I have replied to everyone below. oklouise: Thanks a lot for drawing with accurate measures but I was unable to see parameters or measurements clearly in the picture.. House will be mostly east facing as per land details. Something like 80% east and 20% north. Small space is actually fridge. I was unable to reduce the size in my software. So, made it 1.5m x 1.5m. Thought the builders architect will do it. Also, there is a sink in kitchen and in WIP as well. So, I kept 2 single sinks over there to have some space between gas and sink. Thought of having kitchen bench 4-5 m long. Also, Island bench top in centre will not have sink, we thought of keep it plain white bench without sink. I know robes were bigger than usual but I was unsure about the sizes. I want to have as much natural light as possible and want to have nice windows as kitchen splash back. I also had something else in mind. Right now according to my plan or fixed plan by you, it seems that backyard will be on right side. But while typing this, I realised that sun will rise in east, so most morning sunlight will be hitting directly master bedroom and left side of the plan. Is there a suggestion to still have living on right but backyard on left? I want to use garage 6m wall for projector or a big TV. Also, I think I missed dimensions reading somewhere because I thought it is 189m2 and I can add alfresco for 12-13 m2. :( Kate: Thank you for your suggestions. As mentioned above, House will be mostly east facing as per land details. Something like 80% east and 20% north. I want living to be actually bigger. but you are also right about entry door from garage. I need to think about that too now. Kids/Common Bathroom is a 2-way bathroom. It will act has ensuite for corner room at the back plus common for other rooms. That was my thought and to make 2 door, I had to make it congested because we wanted to add a toilet suite to it as well. Extra Room is actually 4th bedroom but couldn't fit it properly with robe, so I thought I will not put a robe in there and will use it as a office. pottsy99: Thank you for your suggestions. My wife is kind of fan of big WIR, hence I made it large one for her. So, that she can have massive wardrobes with lots of storage and also a makeup table. And, to align everything, I kept ensuite bigger because I like bigger shower space plus wanted to fit a double vanity in there. But Yeah, if space can be used for something else, I can check with builder as well or if anyone can provide suggestions over here. Dining and lounge - I wanted massive, so just kept a photo from the software. But my design size was approx. 6m x 7m. So, I thought, it will look huge and can fit big sofas in front of TV and behind sofas a dining table, so while eating , we can watch tv. Rear rooms - I was also not happy but couldn't find any other way. But, let me think about it again. dreamer: It's not a prayer room. It's a place for fridge. :P Kate: Didn't thought about storage for automation and security cameras. Need to add that as well. Thanks for reminding.