Jessica Craig, I thought you might like to know this. When my daughter was a baby and I took her for swimming lessons, I met another wonderful Mum Wendy and her daughter, Sophie. Sophie's father had recently passed away and so Wendy was trying to adjust to the hand that fate had dealt her. They had not long purchased their house too. We have remained very close all these years and I can report that both Soph and Wendy are a force to be reckoned with. Sophie (now 15) is a talented singer, is doing well at school and has oodles of personality. Wendy is studying online and working towards fulfilling her dream of one day writing a children's book. The house has been renovated and is a very warm and welcoming home. It has not always been an easy road as single mum for Wendy, but it continues to get richer as the years move by. I hope that in some of your harder moments, this may bring some small level of comfort to you.

Hi Karen, If it is possible to do a master suite in the attic, access stairs via the study would be great for this, privacy and parents study all in one space. I have changed the ensuite into the family bathroom much better to serve the bedrooms, a master ensuite could be plumbed above from this as well. You would then have a powder room along with a laundry in place of the old rooms. I have moved the fridge/Wall Oven/Pantry and built it all flush where the old pantry was which I think looks and functions much better Pushed the kitchen wall out under the eaves squaring off the Bay window and allowing direct access into the kitchen to unload family and shopping. A servery from the kitchen has been included out to the verandah for BBQ's Just something for you to consider, hope you can work out my very rough sketch.

Hello! Lovely space, I have a huge soft spot for these bathrooms. To honour what it is, but make it more enjoyable for your uses PLANTS PLANTS PLANTS. I would either install some shelving to have some dangling vines (or equivalent look) plants up high, or use a hanging fixture into the ceiling. That far corner above the bath would be great. + A large (and tall) pot plant and some smaller ones wherever you can fit them. On top of this, I would replace the doily curtain to a more modern look, perhaps white, wooden blinds? If you can do further work from here, it would be accessories, like the towel rail, and tap ware. Something a little Art Deco for your taps would look amazing. Finish with large, fluffy white towels and bathmats to conceal as much of the colour as possible and brighten the space and a big candle or three, maybe a white stool or ladder too.

Hi Ben, advise you engage a Pro to assist you with the front end design process. All these design decisions need to be founded securely on construction cost knowledge, and it's invariably about balancing your requirements to budget within context. Whether it's sub floor, 2nd storey or going out or whatever there are always options on how to achieve your needs and pro/cons & costs to stack up. Working out various configurations of spaces etc is relatively easy, however designing to budget is not, which is where you get the value of utilising professional services for this. These types of projects and investments involved are with all due respect too large, complex and significant to risk DIY'ing the critical front end. You can give it a go but I'll bet you continue to go round in circles. As we explain to our clients in the preliminary conversations, it's not your job to "work it out". All you need to "work out" at this stage is clarifying your particular living requirements and nominate a budget. The "how" and balancing up/negotiation/compromising between the project priorities/requirements and the budget limit is the job of the professional, what the design process deals with, and what we (as design professionals) have the superior capacity/experience to assist you working through it all to achieve the best solution for your particular situation/scenario. That's your best bet here. Hope this helps steer you in the right direction. Cheers PD