I think you can very well still have plants in a windowless room- as long as you're willing to give them regular little 'windowsill holidays' in another room. I'd go with succulents, there are some great warm colour combos (see Pinterest for ideas) and the geometric shapes mimic your tiles. Of course, there are some incredible fake ones around too, saw one last week I could not pick from the real thing. I'd be tempted to mix in some of both to balance aesthetics with practicality! Separately, I'd be careful of adding any soft furnishings (rugs, spare towels, etc) to a small powder room. We are all aware these days that a flushed loo spreads germs a meter around it- I wouldn't want to be collecting and trapping them! I think (subtle) fragrance and votives would warm this lovely space without impeding hygiene.

Hi Jess Jess Congratulation on your purchase on the foothills of the Otway Ranges is a great location and a flat site is a good site to build on. Doing all your doors at 870 is also a great idea - they will work with wheel chairs, hopefully you will never need them. Its a good size for a door as long as the occupants do not put on to much weight in the aging years requiring bigger wheelchairs. (I have some experience in designing for disability). Doors at 1050 are much better but it does require a bit of extra space and the doors will add to the cost a bit as they are non standard. As other have suggested a mud room and three bedrooms are really a good idea, you can always turn the non use bedrooms into a studio, theater, guest room etc later on when the boys leave. It is a great approach to get ideas, to design the house, however I think that when you consider your brief, designing the whole site might be a better approach. What I mean is that you have to consider lot of external issues like, water harvesting and position of tanks, onsite sewage management of grey and black water, composting bins and maybe worm farming, tools storage for garden and maybe a propagating area, solar cells and on site power storage, as you get nothing these days for pumping up to the grid, maybe an eatable garden design, reference to flora and fauna, also there may be other animals on the site (pets), and the fire issue. There seems to be a lot going on on the peripherals as much as the internals of the design. As for a being advised of the oncoming possible bush fire, I would strongly suggest that you build a fire shelter, and hopefully you will be advised in time and leave before the fire comes - and never have to use the fire shelter, and it will be the best money you have wasted in your house design. It would be good if you could get some separation from your "remote working office area" , from the main house. I have been working from home for about 20 years and I find that a little separation from the main house helps in maintaining - work away from home - concept. Although you might plan for your clients never to visiting you, situations can change and maintaining a separate relationship between live areas, and work areas, may be beneficial in the long run. As your views are to the west, good verandahs which connect to living and outdoor activities may be a solution, your second design seems to incorporate this idea, and it might need to be extended especially for the rest of activities that might occur on the site. There is certainly a lot to think about, you have a fantastic site, I hope you will take full advantage of the possibilities. Regards Michael Manias - Manias Associates Building Designers - mm407p@gmail.com

Hi joyjoy1223, I might be able to help you. I'm an interior designer based in Melbourne, but my parents are in Port Campbell, who I love to visit (so it's likely I'll be in your neighbourhood soon) If you'd like to have more of a chat about the services you're looking for, or if you'd like to find out more about me , please take a look at my Houzz profile and my website. Regards, Sophie

i'm glad you're planning to reroute access to the garage: clumsy traffic pattern change a generous room into a big hallway and can't stop thinking about your kitchen..1. where you have narrow cabinets/shelves in the pantry...it's possible to have built in shelves inside the dividing wall (think about the size of what you want to store: cans, bottles, skinny packets? and put 60cm base cabinets on the other side, next to the freezer 2. i can't see the yellow highlights for stools 3. width of pantry is subject to you wanting to keep the door to the formal living room...if so, measure 150mm past the door opening and that's the minimum width of the pantry but 1500mm allows space to comfortably walk past your freezer and have full size base cabinets with pantry drawers (cleaner than open shelves) 4. space between the b'fast bar and 'fridge should be at least 90cm but if you choose a wide b'fast bar and a big 'fridge a bigger space is preferable (stand a couple of chairs 90cm in front of your current fridge for a few days and see how it feels) direction of fridge door opening is also critical, first for the cooks and then everyone else: if the size of the b'fast bar can be enlarged or reduced with overhanging counter then a change of walkway is not so difficult 5. as suggested by girlguide, the cooktop and rangehood might be better on the outside wall for ventilation 6. there seems to be a lot of small cabinets and drawers in your plan and there could be some better (and cheaper) combinations but when i tried to access IKEA kitchen planner to confirm available sizes it's not responding today 7. i've attached my suggested approximate base cabinet sizes: starting with corners and work outwards, aiming for the biggest standard carcases and then add drawers to suit purpose ..