Loving these hilarious stories ... makes mine seem tame. My flatmate and I had a spare room and kindly offered it to a friend. She moved in and all was going quite well (except the cartoons every morning, the late night fry ups and the various articles of clothing left lying ALL over the house). One evening when 'friend' was out, we two had a few friends over for drinks and a movie. Everyone was being polite and trying not to mention the smell that became increasingly offensive as the night wore on. Half way through the movie it was no longer tolerable ... "What the hell is that smell .. sorry girls, but I think you have a dead animal in here somewhere". So six of us went searching for about half an hour ... it was a pair of 'friends' shoes left pushed under the couch. The smell, up close, was worse than BAD ... no words! I decided to just throw the shoes into 'friends' bedroom but .. when I opened the bedroom door .. the full force of her many pairs of smelly shoes hit me and I almost passed out. The smell lingered in the living room for days later. We confronted 'friend' about the shoe problem and from that point her shoes had to be stored outside on the veranda, away from all doors or windows so the smell could never be allowed to permiate the indoors again. 'Friends' response was "how dare you open my bedroom door". All this led to us lying ... told her the lease was up, planned moving day, she moved, we stayed, and for the remainder of the lease we lied about where we lived. All that deceipt over smelly shoes.

I've been playing around with a pantry location. Originally, I was going to move the pantry into the laundry with some custom shelving and cut the laundry space in half. Now, Im thinking of cutting into the study area and building a wall there, and converting the new space into a long and narrow walk in pantry. Either that or build half a wall and put built in shelving in the study. Building the extra wall will reduce the need to cover in the door way that is currently in place and instead utilising it. Thoughts? p.s. this isnt too scale.

Alenka, thanks for sharing those photos. How wonderful. When I moved up to the Macedon Ranges I swore I didn’t want exposed brick or wood paneling. I’d only lived in Victorian, federation or cal bungalow houses in Melbourne, though I appreciate mid century modern design. Then I fell in love with and bought the house in the photo (but hate the light fitting). Even though our family circumstances changed and we had to sell I still love the authenticity of the materials, the attention to detail and the connection all of the rooms have with the outdoors, including main bathroom and toilet. Really bad orientation though so it was cold and dark and very hard to heat in winter. Cool in summer however. Our new build will draw on some of the best aspects of this house, and will include internal recycled brick walls in some rooms for thermal mass and interest, indoor outdoor flow and courtyards, raked ceilings etc, but 8 star energy rating and oriented to take advantage of northern light. I love your house.

A slightly off-the-wall suggestion -- remove the wall on the 'right' of the lounge , so you incorporate the hallway into the lounge . Add a door between the entry and the lounge -- if your plan is accurate , there may have been one there at some stage ? This 'closes off' the front 2 bedrooms , they become what I call 'kids rooms' -- you can still entertain or even just watch TV when they have gone to bed . You also have a toilet for guests ( in fact , a whole bathroom to share ) , although it's not ideal for the 3 existing bedrooms , but workable , unless you are a big entertainer . This may not be possible , but in my head I'd then remove the wall between the lounge and dining ( reading your replies , this may be load bearing , but just an idea ) . So you then have a large kitchen/dining/lounge/family -- sort of 4 in one . Maybe even move the 'middle' wall along the kitchen and dining to the right by 1.5 metres ? And of course , move the laundry to the rear porch area , and what do you have ? Yes , a new Master , with the toilet already there , add a bath/shower/basin . No addition needed , but I certainly accept it has a few compromises and assumptions , and may not be possible , but might get your thoughts moving outside the obvious ?