When I first wrote in August 2017 we got a lot of great suggestions and comments. At the time we had accepted the limitations of the block (easements, tree, solar access etc). It is now one year later and I can tell you we found a way to move the garage to the south-west corner. This allowed us to move Beds 2 and 3 and the bathroom to the northern side. Pantry and laundry between garage and kitchen/living/dining. I think it was all of the comments and suggestions that encouraged us to look at it again from different angles, rather than just accepting the limitations. Thanks to everyone for their generosity! The solution involved working around a lovely tree (it is nice, just in the wrong spot). It is still in the way (council said we couldn't remove it) but we've opted for a long, curving driveway that starts on the other side of the block and weaves its way around the treeline to the garage entry. Not ideal, because a large portion of the front setback will now be a hard surface, instead of a garden. But if there is one thing that designing teaches you - its all about compromises. Thanks everyone. MB Design & Drafting Shara C Nik Star girlguides oklouise siriuskey genkii saragraham76 Andy Pat brizcs Mel N 3D Home Concepts suancol Caro

We put similar gates on our first house, many years ago,ours were western red cedar, we bought then at a place on the Princes Highway at Arncliffe an area of Sydney, not sure if they still trade. try Trade Cedar Gates 0428268664 might be able to help.

I'm going to thro a wobbly into this mix: Have you thought about going two storey so there is some outside space for boys to play? Looking at your site plan play is either in the pool or the street! Master bedroom, with all the robe you want upstairs and a kids free zone! Or boys rooms above as long has they do not own hob nail boots! Then do not use ALL the extra space on ground for your film works! Seriously this would give you some breathing space and some real outdoor living area to enjoy which you can do in Ipswich climate. Four beds separate bath rooms and stairs above with a laundry chute. Down stairs a real laundry (proportional to a five bed house) A powder room with shower for after pool. Your study of a size worthwhile and theatre room for family second sitting room as well as clients. The master can then have better sized robe, all the bits you want in ensuite including separate loo (lovely idea) but please on outside wall with window. Personally, I'm not one for two storey but in this tight site I think it would be much better. Good Luck, Margot

the space size will/should be determined by your furniture layout and size. For example if you have a round table of a certain size vs a rectangular table this will change what is required. Same with lounge furniture. With living room it becomes more involved depending upon whether you have a fireplace and a TV set up as the lounge furniture needs to be able to work to both. If you want a more formal 3 piece lounge setup vs a more contemporary modular corner lounge with chaise end then this will change room proportion, TV/fire positioning and also paths of movement around/through and into the space. Your issue with the dining space is more about the bottleneck in and out of it The size is just OK (with update plan) although if you have a 2.4m length table you best have closer to 5 or 5.5m length to have comfortable space to move around the table ends if people are seated at the ends. If your living and dining areas are more combined then overall you may not need to increase the size of the building, rather you have a more efficiently planned space as you can "share" the swing room around furniture to a certain degree. However you may prefer the separated configuration, which is fine, but it needs to be set-up with proper clearances around both the built in and freestanding elements to function well. Have attached an example of one of our projects, a completely different thing but inspired by a traditional style - the plan however shows how the spaces are designed specifically to furniture and paths of movement is flowing and balanced with no awkward bottlenecks in this regard. Also the more centralised living zone enables a more efficient relationship between entry and main living.