Yes you are right, oskuee, the cost of this renovation was commensurate with its location in a prestige suburb of Sydney. Having said that, the budget was not limitless, so we chose to retain and enhance the bones and style of the original house by making 'simple' changes, rather than reinventing the whole house's look & layout, which would require more extensive and costly changes. This is how I usually approach renovations, to get the most out of the client's budget, no matter what the size or cost of the project is.

What amazing spaces!

Theres a few noticeable issues with the current plan. First ones are the door to bed positioning in bedrooms, certainly bedrooms 2, 3 and 4. I actually don't know where they'd be placed to provide privacy to those rooms. Just clunky design even though the sizes are quite ok. Door and window location affects the whole room. WC location to living area isn't great design, could have easily been swapped over to Laundry side instead..... The entry area at garage level isn't ideal as the entry door opens directly to bottom of staircase, not a good circulation area at all. As noted previously with glass in living areas, just too much. Actually I even doubt it would meet any thermal standards using high performance glazing systems. The little balcony off main bedroom is unusable at 800mm so is better to be removed altogether. Theres quite a few other issues with the design even though some of the sizes of the spaces are quite acceptable. While I understand the site has constraints, all projects have constraints in one way or another. I would recommend you engage another designer and compare concept outcomes. Then choose which way from there whether to run with the new one and their design or stick with the original design and work with it. Design is cheap, way too cheap in most cases so don't be concerned at spending money on a few designs to get one that works. Its a drop in the ocean compared to building costs.

Yeah , if you look at that pic , and go right to the top ( the very first pic you posted a few days ago ) you can see the difference , for not much extra $$$ . Even compared to the rendered pic , I know which I prefer , but everyone is different . The 3rd column may be a hassle ( opening car doors onto it etc ) -- I'd try and do just 2 , have the second one at the 'front' ( same distance forward as the front of the pergoda ) and maybe a bit to the left , but then that may obscure the front door , although I reckon that is going to be 2 1/2 to 3 metres back . Personally , I don't think its a problem , and would still look balanced , but some people probably wouldn't want that . And just 1 other thing -- the very first pic you posted , the upstairs colour looks warmer and yellower -- has it been painted , or was that a sunset ? Personally , I like that colour better , and would carry it down to the render ( I don't think it would look 'Spanish' ) and it would make the stonework look warmer too . Plus everyone does grey these days -- apart from me hahaha . . . . . .