I have a lounge where layout wise it would make sense to have the tv above the fireplace But it is way too high. If your room is big enough that you can sit far enough back so you're not straining to watch tv, then go for it. Both Houzz and Pintrest have some great ideas on ways to conceal the tv.

Hi I have work in the building Industry for many years before venturing into Landscaping and Design. It come to this having a split level can be easy but you will need to think would you like to come up and down multi level home. I had a multi level home at Bonnells Bay (Newcastle) N.S.W. and found after living there for 5 year a bit of chore to go up and down the level so much. A single level flow better to go with a Alfresco Dinning experience, as if you have a guest at your house been entertain on the outside it make it hard to find a toilet if needed. I would say to your husband to weigh up the cost, it is simple and as follows a retaining wall of one level, can be anything from stone or besser block or timber. These element will be what you can afford to do, the stone and besser are the most expensive of the 3 but require the less maintenance and last the longest. Timber can be low cost, but has the tendency to decay over time and has a life span of no longer then 5-8 year, depending on environmental conditions. A retaining wall of that height of 1.5m, tend to need a engineering spec to built and so my advise is to go for the besser as it the cheaper then stone. if your are concern on look of the besser, it can dressed up with stone looking tile or there a number of option to go for. is to get the costing of doing a multi level home design. This can be costly too depend on if it going to be slab or bears and joist home, as the cost differ and different type of process have to happen. You got to ask yourself, is my house raise of the ground or is a slab that sit directly on the ground. to put it to you as simple as I can, for a slab need steel and pier to be dug and so on, so if this is the case then with your current house is siting on a cut and fill which is common for this type of slab construction. Where a Bearers and joist system sit on top of a raised pier that come off the ground. this is what a lot of the older style home have, the only thing about this not a lot of builder and trades people do not how to do this as it a dying art of constructing house. final option is to do a raise slab which raises like a retaining wall but in face bricks and a slab is pore on top but not seen form the outside and the face bricks continues As for the design of your house it all up to what you want for a house, you have to ask yourself can I use this for the long term or is something I want rather then need. Sometime we over compensate for thing and the saying in design is less tends to be best. a flowing design is a happy one and can be more of a chore to go with something that is wanted then needed. A little tip for your kitchen, make shore that the sink, stove and fridge are in a triangle form from each other as this flow the best when cooking. Any tip of knowledge on retaining wall just send me a message

Thank you for all of the suggestions. As we are currently getting renovations done elsewhere in the house it is hard for me to provide photos. The two exterior walls in the living room have floor to ceiling windows, whilst the dining room has three consecutive windows around 1m off the ground. One of the windows in the living room it is not possible to put blinds on as it is too close to another window (perpendicular from it). There are also a second set of glass doors onto the balcony which we do not wish to put blinds on. Therefore next to the front door there are four windows/glass doors, only one of which can be covered with blinds. So as you walk across the balcony and to the front door you have a substantial view into the house, even if a wall was built to separate the living areas from the entry. It is for this reason that we don't think a front entry way will work. We are not too fussed about the privacy as it is a raised Queenslander hidden front street view due to a number of large trees. However, we were concerned that having the kitchen in view from the front door could affect resale value (although it doesn't bother us). We enjoy having a large kitchen however could happily have a smaller one if it meant the space worked a lot better. We would like to keep the laundry in its current location if possible, to minimise renovations. The main reason we are concerned with the floor plan is, as I've said before, that we would like to have it open plan and we think that simply knocking down the wall separating the kitchen and dining room would not be the ideal way to go about this. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi there. I am shocked that no one is interested in traveling to you for advise as honestly any property stylist should come out and give you an idea and help you with a plan. Also a great idea is people do mood boards and designs over the net where you send photos and measurements and they help you from there. Cost is $250 and well worth the help - this is something i do and honestly it is really popular as it allows you up to 2 months of emails and calls at no charge, some assistance with buying (mot designers will also help get you trade costs not retail and so on). If your interested let me know and i can give you more info. To help you a little today please see my image of a clients home that was one long rectangle (hard to work with) but it turned out well using their furniture. i have more images if you like