I will start with an admission - I have read nothing of the comments. However I have helped a friend design a compact laundry. Here was how we did it. 1. Start with a list of everything - and I mean everything, include pegs, those little lint ball things for the washing machine, buckets, mops, vacuum, airers etc - that you want to store in the space. 2. Break that list into where you want to store it - drawers, wall, or cupboard - and then rewrite the list as cupboard, drawers, wall etc.As you are doing this, see if you can store those items elsewhere - we added a ceiling airer in the bathroom using pulleys. Also mark any item that a special storage gadget might help. We added to the back of one door (I think they were custom made 925mm and 2300mm high) a hanger for the vacuum hose, and in the cupboard a hanger that slides out for the brooms and mop. 3. Go measure the space you have, and be exact - if the measurement is 1457mm it is 1457mm. Also, see where you might "borrow" space from. We managed to add another 650mm deep, 750mm wide cupboard by swapping the two bedrooms around, and using space in the guest bedroom wardrobe. 4. Draw up a plan, and be really specific. If you think you need four drawers and a top mounted sink then plan that way. Whilst you are planning think over whether you want top spec and not hide it, or to hide it behind really nice doors. We used reasonable quality from Bunnings and modified because it was behind doors. Also, don't be afraid to "borrow" something from a different zone. In my laundry I used a round kitchen sink, because I didn't want a really deep laundry tub so I could use the room underneath. 5. Go and find a really good quality cupboard manufacturer or builder and ask them to look over your plan and ideas. They may tweak to assist, but remember you know your space and what you will be using it for better than anyone. In my friends case, she had a brother who assisted and made a super looking set of doors. As to resale value, that depends on who you want to buy it, but I have one piece of advice - don't go for the resale value, do it because that is what you want. In my friends case she turned her laundry into the bathroom, and then turned the oversized bathroom into a very natty study. Good Luck.

Your builder may be confused with the requirements for floor wastes in an apartment laundry so that any overflow doesn't seep through to the apartment below. An aluminium strip at the door threshold in this case would mean that any overflow would not run into the rest of the residence, and the water would go down the floor waste. While it may be prudent to have a laundry floor waste, and an aluminium strip at the internal door threshold to contain any overflow, it is not a requirement of the building regulations for a standard house. So is Jo Louise in a standard house that doesn't have somebody else's home below the laundry? Is there a floor waste in the laundry? If there is no requirement for the aluminium strip I would go with the same tiles that are in the hallway, and live with the risk that there will be an overflow. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

What about an old style sand filled door snake?

If you need a kitchen for 3 to 4 years I would go for a small, cheap kitchen across the back wall, using freestanding units with storage under and double up your dining table as a kitchen table for prep, like our grandmother's used to do. You could install a sink fairly cheaply and a small cooktop, but maybe just buy a convection microwave to use as an oven? A convection microwave will cook just about anything, and takes up much less space than a full stove. Your cooktop doesn't have to be an electrician installed one. You can also buy table top, plug in induction hotplates. I think you really need 2 hotplates for long term cooking, but look around, see what you can get and what you think might work for you. If you use freestanding units, except for the sink, you could achieve quite an eclectic, funky look on very little money and a lot of imagination. A cheap kitchen doesn't have to look cheap. Check out the free standing units at Ikea, old cupboards and benches at second hand shops and the dump shop, even work benches at Bunnings. Go to the markets and get yourself a couple of sturdy, good sized cutting boards in stone or wood to use to do your prep on. The advantage of freestanding units is that you can build/install them yourself, arrange them how you like, re-arrange them if they aren't working for you how they are and repurpose them later,. Think about how you cook, and pare everything down to the bare minimum to save on storage/space. I lived for years with a kitchen in a small house that had an old gas stove, one small sink with a draining board, one bench about 1.2m long that had glass doored pass through overbench cupboards that I contually whacked my head on for the first three months when prepping food, and an old pine cupboard that was both pantry and crockery/cutlery storage. We also had a small fridge and microwave. I raised 2 teenagers with that kitchen. You adapt to what you have, especially if you have the goal of your dream kitchen shining in the future! Also, living with a basic kitchen really helps to clarify what you really want in a kitchen. Oh, and would a front loader washing machine fit in the space next to the bath, be the door in the bathroom? You really don't want a washing machine in a space that hasn't been properly waterproofed. If not, maybe consider a temporary outside laundry?