@mlk01, You are right about the message button, I have it on my profile but no one else seems to so that's odd! If you click on my profile for example, you will see on the top line right beside the profile picture: Your house, Ideasbook, Bookmarks, Activities, Messages. In fact I remember that when anyone typed a reply like I'm doing now, you used to be able to click a "private" button, which meant only the person you were typing to saw your comment. Perhaps Houzz can answer these anomalies?? I'm not on Facebook or Twitter, never got into it and have no reason to do so anytime soon ha-ha As for talking privately to someone, you could post your email address here as could oklouise and delete it whilst you are still able to edit, as I've done once in the past. Just not sure how long the edit feature lasts.

Chris, like most things in our industry, the devil's in the detail and knowledge that best comes in the form of practical experience. Whilst a book or online resource can provide a guide, for something like a bathroom the strategy of attack can be practically varied depending upon the outcome and final detail desired. Are you changing plumbing? Are you having a seamless shower base? What is the scope of the tiling? Are you having a wall basin? taps in the basin or out of the walls? Shower taps or mixer? Bath freestanding or in hob? Vanity detail? any recesses? lighting? windows? Waterproofing is something honestly best left for the pros, as it needs to be done to certain standards. Preparation and straightening of walls/substrates is also critical for (most) tiled finishes, more or less so depending upon the particular tile selection. It's all that detail and the sequencing and coordination of and between the various elements/subtrades that's critical to the outcome. If you have a budget in mind perhaps it would be worthwhile you running your renovation project by a bathroom specialist to get a benchmark. You may be surprised as to how cost effective they can be to deal with it all themselves, and save yourself the inevitable headaches and hassles involved. Good luck! PD www.pauldistefanodesign.com

Kate: - I like the idea of a door at both ends of the new central bedroom doorway - maybe some kind of thin sliding door or a foldable shutter door might be best? - house can’t be knocked down/rebuilt due to location in a heritage conservation area OkLouise: - thanks again for doing this - I’ve loved all of your updates, they are so well thought out and hope to incorporate them all into the build - will send you a token of appreciation when the build is finished! - we have already been thinking about whether to rotate the kitchen island 90 degrees as you have drawn - i think it might look weird? but i’m not sure - theres a lot for us to process with your new updates so we'll need to spend some time thinking about them! - i’m resistant to reducing the size of study 2 as that’s the most important room for me as i will spend a lot of time there and it is doubling as a work productivity office/man cave so really want that room to be fantastic! - i thought the laundry chute was above the laundry but will need to ask the architect Siriuskey - I also think there may be too many bathrooms in the house - due to the good location of the property i think it is hard (within reason) to overcapitalise on the property so believe it will grow well in value in the long run so would rather overdo it than underdo it - FWIW the other houses in the street/adjacent streets are kind of similar to our proposed plan so its not out of keeping with the area - am still wondering about combining the downstairs powder room/adjacent en suite into one big bathroom for a bath - variable number of family members staying but 4 to 11 over 3 generations at various times of the year - the plan for the mudroom is for it to be the entrance into the house that we use most so it can also act as a cloak room too so that’s why its not near the laundry - i don’t want a lift in the house as it seems unnecessary for our needs and fi we ever ended up in a situation where we needed a lift we would just sell and downsize Dreamer: - i think we (parents) might end up living downstairs when the kids get older/noisier - they are in primary school currently Pleased to Bijou design - point taken about number of bathrooms - i don’t really have a good answer Paul Di Stafano & Dr Retro - i can sense and empathise with your professional frustrations :) - thanks for the good luck wishes, I agree we’ll need it - fortunately I’m a lifelong/relentless optimist and things always seem to work out ok in the end (and if they don’t, I’ll take it as a positive learning experience) - thanks for the insights into dodgy busy practice business models mummagabz - thanks for comment about small robes - will look into making them larger

I just finished our new ensuite, which has a 1600mm vanity. I have 4 lighting circuits (switches): 1. 2 x downlights for the main bathroom in a similar place to you. 2. Another 2 x downlights ( 1 over each sink) 250mm off the wall (vanity is 500mm deep so halfway between person and mirror). 3. Extractor Fan / Heat Lamp and 4. Strip light under vanity for late night trips. The downlights are dimmable so you can have the main bathroom in a medium light and then you can choose how much to crank your vanity lights. The idea is that the light should shine onto your face hence they are installed in front of the person and they are on a gimble so they can be tilted to point at your face. I think you are in Australia so I can tell you they are the Domus Aqua Tilt 13 and are fully sealed (ip65) so no issue having over your shower, etc. They are also very bright as the light bounces off the white tiles, so really they are only needed when applying makeup. It's hard to know exactly where your lighting needs to go when you just have plans in front of you, but you could always get your electrician to wire both for wall sconces and downlights and then when you are further along you can choose whether to cut downlights or have wall lights. (Remember to take pictures and measurements of the wire locations before they close in the walls / ceiling!) If you try downlights first, it's also a lot easier to change your mind (i.e patch a ceiling) than wall lights as that usually means drilling through tiles..