Just moved into a new small house with an open kitchen/living area. I love it. I can be getting dinner, chatting with better half , watching news on TV. Just the two of us, so what's the point of isolating one of us in a separate room? If we entertain, we do most of the messy prep ahead of time and clear up. The rest gets shoved into the butlers pantry. That said, I can understand why someone who's into formal entertaining on a grand scale or who has a big family would want a separate kitchen, but for us open is great.

I'd say it's an easy min. $250K minimum flagfall on a relatively basic/not fancy spec/fit-out in a super good package deal. You're essentially renovating an entire house including moving plumbing, walls replastering, new floors throughout etc....not to mention lights, rewiring etc etc, it goes on and on.......This scope would still cost a builder themselves $150K, not factoring in their own time/labour, paying cash for sub-trades and getting super deals on all materials....and then you could only really potentially roll this type of operation out if you actually have the money in the bank. If you need to borrow then you'd need a building contract which then brings in market rates, profit margins and GST. Take profit and GST out from $150K and there's barely enough left to cover materials alone, when the labour/materials ratio (of a construction cost) these days, particular for renovations is labour being the most significant cost involved.............you can fine tune and perfect a floor plan like you have (which I reckon is pretty good as a plan), but when push comes to shove it always comes back to budget and costs, which is why we always are encouraging people to utilise design professionals who manage the challenge of designing within budget limits. If you separate budget/costs from the design process (rather than integrate it) more often than not it will leads to disappointment and misalignment of your expectations of what is realistic.

The position of the powder room in the original posted plans and oklouise plans to me is not desirable. Toilet at the main entry?? Could the access from garage to back yard be reduced, and the laundry room area be increased to include the powder room in that area? There is already a toilet in the downstairs bathroom for the bedroom, why have another right next to it. The laundry area for powder room is private and accessible from outside when required.

I agree with 2 sofas, I think it would look great! Would prefer if the sofa was not facing the kitchen. You can also keep the sofa and the 2 chairs but rotate as you suggested so the sofa is not facing the kitchen. The armchairs might give you more flexibility.