Thanks Louie and Georgi for your comments. Great suggestions for me to think through. Thanks for taking the time to provide that detail. To help see the space a bit better, I've taken out the wine rack and replaced it, temporarily, with a shelf (that was in a different part of the house) that matches the one holding the water filter (the second shelf is to hold our phone and modem - again, due to a small house, it's really the only place the phone and modem can live). Plus, I've extended the table so that I could get a feel for the size table the area could potentially accommodate, now that the wine rack isn't there. The size of the table with the extension is: 1800 x 840. Ignore the look of the current table - regardless of whether we go banquette seating or not, we would like to change the table and perhaps a pedestal table would be best so that it makes it easier to get to the seats at the back. By the way I noticed that when I look at this post on my iPad I don't see all the photos I included like I do when looking at it on my laptop. Hopefully the photos I've included show okay for others looking at this. Thank you.

House has many good features, I love how the bedrooms are divided from the living area, that can be very important if you have young children. I even like how the door to the laundry is screened from the dining area - little things like that are important to me. The toilet in the bathroom would annoy me, but having the second toilet in the laundry would offset that. I think I would be inclined to close off the lounge room as a TV/Media room that would free up the general living area for just living. The outdoor areas look well planned with excellent access from the house. Oklouise's idea of relocating the kitchen looks an excellent idea but plumbing could be an issue here, firstly it would be expensive just to move the plumbing and something to be generally avoided with renovations, and secondly with rooms underneath the house, it may not be possible. As the kitchen is now, opening it more to the living room could be a good idea except I can see possible safety issues with the hotplates being exposed to passing traffic - especially with young children in the house. I agree with David - you do have to think about how you are going to live in the house and the lifestyle you envisage. For this reason, if you do decide to purchase, I would strongly suggest you live in the house for a year before doing a thing. That way the things that aren't working for you will become very obvious as well as things you need or would make life easier making decision making simpler. You will also get a feel for the lighting in the house, where it can be improved and the aspect of the house - what rooms may need warming (south facing rooms) or what rooms need cooling (west facing rooms).

The fun kitchen..and realistically not the hardest thing to replace if one fell out of love with pattern after few years

I think some sort of extraction fan is essential to eliminate cooking smells and prevent build up of grease in your room. Especially in an open plan area. Unless you live in a climate that Is warm all year around you are unlikely to want to open the window every to you cook. Have you thought about a down draft extraction fan? They pop up from the bench, usually behind your cooktop. Different brands make them. Generally high end and more expensive than a canopy type rangehood but could solve your dilemma.