hi we have about six months ago now, re done our bath room , similar size to yours, and , i can take some photos and email them to you , we have maximised space, and walls , put in a white stone bath under the window , it is a metre in width , with a cool water spout coming off the centre under the window we pu t afalse ledge in to sit , candles etc on , , we tiles floor to ceiling, off white , wall mirror cabnit with three mirrors , inset into the wall so its only sits out a we bit from the wall tiles , floating bath room vanity , so that it makes the floor space look bigger , . matching stone square basin sits ontop of the vanity to one side so plenty of room to sit all your bath room stuff when need be , seperate shower all tiled as well , with inset , shelves for shampoo etc, also , when you open the bath room door and walk in when you close the bath room door behind it next to the shower is a very narrow floor to ceiling shelvec for towels, now the hole is there we jaust havent got the shelves put in yet. , we gt loads of comments as the bth room dosent look small evn though it is , , most expensive item the sqwat extra wide stone bath , made to order basin / tap ware and shower spray thing ,oh and the white stone vanity which we had made to order as well , due to the sizing .

Your house won't fit on your section! Your front rooms plus garage add up to 23m wide, and that's not allowing for the thicknesses of the walls and cladding, plus any eaves. Before you start designing, you will need to find out about setbacks and recession planes so you know how much of your section you can actually build on. You also need to consider things like the path of the sun, prevailing winds, climate, views, proximity to neighbours, privacy, flow (both through the house and outside), placement of utility areas etc. You also need a clear idea of the style of house you would like and you need to design to suit the way you live now, plus think really hard about how you are likely to live in the future (to give just one example, I can almost guarantee that kids won't use that toy room, as they like being close to Mum and Dad when they are little). Beyond that, you need to give thought to sustainable building, and how far down that path you will choose to go. There are many things such as passive solar design that are effectively free to do at the design stage, which will make your house cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in, and these should absolutely be part of your brief. There may be minor extra costs for things like better insulation, low- or no-VOC products and finishes, energy efficient appliances and fittings etc, which could pay for themselves in a short space of time and/or make your home more pleasant to inhabit. Other features such as solar power and grey water recycling may fall outside your budget now, but it may be wise to allow for these to be easily retrofitted in the future. This is a HUGE house - why do you want it to be so big? I'm not sure what average building costs are where you live but that would be a million dollar house in NZ, with only average features and finishings (e.g. acrylic, rather than tiled showers, laminate kitchen etc). As the global trend seems to be moving towards smaller but better quality houses, it might be worth considering resale potential in the future. It is not easy to design a home, and it is such a massive investment that you want to be really sure you've got it just right. You'd probably be better to employ an architect if you want a unique home, unless you are prepared to spend months or even years educating yourself to a point that you can confidently design a house that takes into consideration all the issues I've raised above (and that's only just scratching the surface of the many decisions you will need to make). Good luck!

unless you have a very big bathroom the actual laying of the tiles could be the smallest cost of the whole renovation (what is the size of the space?)...there's also the removal of the old finish (and any old asbestos) and preparation of the new surfaces and waterproofing and any new fixtures and tile glue and trims and grout...ask the tiler what is included for the price

Audrey In Brisbane we can legally create a house with semi-self-contained units/flattettes. This can be done without a Develpment Approval. It does need a Building Approval, but for the changes you might need, you woudl need a Buidlign Approval anyway. These houses in Brisbane can consist of up to five bedrooms (assuming 1 person per bedroom) which can be ensuited and have a tea bench (small hotel like kitchen). You then provide a share kitchen and laundry. Ideally, you could also incorporate a common room. This house appears to have good bones to achieve this. With Airbnb I am currently doing similar to what you are looking at (although in Spring Hill). They take only 3%. My house needs renovation, but in there $180/week gives them a room and share bathrooms and kitchens and all bills paid. This property you are looking at has this opportunity immediately. With not much work you could provide a mix of products with several ensuited rooms as well as just rooms. If it was me, I'd be claiming the rear as mine and renting the house's front bits. I think you could bring up to $600/week depending on the condition of the property and location (again assuming you kept the two rear rooms and rumpus as your retreat with garden facing rooms (so you can keep an eye on the dogs, tend a garden and have an escape from the rest of the house. This is not to say you have to totally exclude tenants from access to it. If you want to chat more please feel free to contact me. The house appears to have great potential. Cheers David ( an Architect who believes in living small and economically without missing out on the luxuries home can provide)