Hi Jammomuzo It is always a great experience planing a new home, a great chance to look to the future and hope for great things, and its good to see the great contributions of ideas that you have received so far. The initial ground floor sketch plan that you have shown seems to consider orientation some functions with a plausible response, however I think your greatest asset is the brief, your five pages with ideas would be a good indication of your expectations, that would be my starting point with your design. Then there is always the consideration of site location, time frame, budget and non negotiable 'must have' spaces, and the expectation of all stakeholders in the project including pets if you have some. I think that you upstairs expectations are achievable, however I think that they should be planned concurrent and relating t your ground floor design. Looking at the ground floor there might be a few things you like to consider; The position of the stair on the north side, and the single flight. It might be better if you could relate the stair on the south side on the service areas and retain north light in the main living areas. Also a stair is always better with a turn and and a landing - less distance to fall, stairs and accidents go hand in hand - reduce the risk. I like the location of your guest room - cannot tell from the drawings if you have associated a bathroom or en suite with it. It wold be advantageous to have an en-suite of a small corridor so that your guest have some privacy but still be usable by the rest of the downstairs populous. It might be good to get a door from the Garage - thought a ventilated airlock - to the rest off the house. I think you have placed a hot plate or a sink on your kitchen front bench. In an emergency like a fire, instinctively one goes from the fire to the sink. It is always best to have the sink separate from the hot plate by one working station - about 800 to 1000 mm,and on the same side, this avoids the accidental spill of oils in an emergency especially if you have young children that travel very quickly around the kitchen. There are many factors to consider in a design, it takes a few revisions to obtain something that you are happy with. I hope this is of some help, it would be interesting to see the elevations and how the house develops its its character, considering that that is your intention from you initial elevation. I think to get a better understanding you would need a few 3D accurately generated computer views so as to fully understand how the spaces might look and work in the final arrangement. Wish you the best in your efforts. I would be happy to work with you or further comment on your proposal. Michael Manias - mm407p@gmail.com newhomedesign.com.au

typical dogs breakfast Queenslander! I would make the entrance into the current bedroom 1 and turn current entrance/lounge into main bedroom with sunroom where current entrance is...nice place to relax with doors open. Then I would knock the wall down between the kitchen and current bedroom 1 to make one large room from front to back and put the kitchen along the wall against current bedroom 4 with long bench with dining area one end and open plan lounge at other end. I would wall off bedroom 4 and only be able to enter it from lounge. another door in lounge to enter remains of bedroom 4 which I would convert to laundry and then entry to bathroom. Block current doors from kitchen into bedroom 1 and bedroom 4/bathroom. Either block door between bedrooms 3 or take wall down to make one big room. Scuttle outdoor bathroom/toilet to make one long outdoor area that opens up from kitchen dining area. Probably put a skylight in kitchen area too.

my suggestions include a door between dining and family room, opening up the wall between dining and kitchen to allow for a 7' island bench and knee space for drawers and desk on either or both sides and a "window" between kitchen and dining with cabinets above head height...the existing sink, dw and toilet space remain the same but swopping the rear doors for wide sliding glass would improve light and allow easier traffic and furniture arrangement including a wall of free standing cabinets that could include extra kitchen and dining storage as well as tv, books music etc

Hi Anna, By now you have likely conquered your space and are happily on to other aspects of your fantastic home. I only came across your post last night and started thinking what would I do if this were my apartment? I would lean into the what is. If it's a dark corner, use the darkness. You know 'use the force Luke'. The contrast with the light-coloured neutral sofa a medium to dark colour for the wall from the entrance will make the space sharper. The sofa will make it look 'light' even though it's not. I wouldn't go with matching pillows to the wall, but I love the cactus at the beginning of the runner which when you are seated on the couch would be a visual break from the entry and bathroom door but no width to touch you as you walk past. I would remove one of the mirrors along that wall and hang the other horizontally about 20 cm above the back of the couch starting from the corner. This way, when seated in the armchair, you are not looking at yourself. I would hang the second mirror on the back of the front door so you can check yourself one last time before leaving, or when coming out of the bathroom. In this example, they have not used a rug to define the living space, but a runner to define the 'corridor' past it, which in your room would be past the bedroom. I would have the armchair just off the runner deeper than the kitchen bench. I would also not put anything in the 'corner nearest the sink as that would be the doorway to the living area and also when you are seated give you a clear sight line to the balcony. For the wall with the aircon, I would put a dramatic piece of art that has the same total volume as the mirror but is square or a fatter rectangle hung vertically so that it sits in the middle of the space between your knees when seated on the couch and your knees if seated on the armchair. That is in the 'coffee table' area whether you have any tables. I started the search with my favourite colour for the wall and then searched graphics for the artwork. But really you should have the art to best match the colour on the wall to one of the lesser dark shades in the art. You can get art made from any print relatively cheaply at Officeworks and use an IKEA frame. Or choose from art printing sites that print to stretched canvas, like this one with postage would be around $300. Hang the art so that the middle of the picture is 150cm above the floor. If you did want a rug to define the space, instead of the corridor past it like in my example, I would choose a single colour that was noticeably darker than the sofa in a shade from the floor and possibly even slightly darker than the floor. Darker than the floors would make the floor look lighter (if that is preferable). You can have any rug cut and edged to any size, including having a rug made from a new length of carpet at all carpet shops. And if this was my place and that was my desk, I would set up in the kitchen facing the balcony to the right of the sliding door. After years of working from home that sense of being on top of the world appeals to me. Thank you for the opportunity to fantasise about living in your space. I hope you are super happy there.