Hi Jane, how much are you willing to spend on this project and would you like to keep the same kind of structural elements (pavers, garden beds etc) or change the whole thing?

Hi Jaimia, I tend to agree with 12sally12 sentiments. Celebrate the house and it's foibles (boxiness, entry, colour, balcony treatment). However it's great to adapt a home to make it yours - just making the right decisions is the hard part! The extent of change depends on your budget and your tolerance for inconvenience. I've listed a few ideas that vary from 'nice to have' to significant structural (and cost) changes. These will affect the colour scheme, and therefore the way it will appear overall. Roof – dark colours appear heavier and more dominant. Your home looks to be built in the 70's, it's likely due for a new roof soon. Consider a fresh new zinc or white colorbond roof. Upgrade the gutters and downpipes at the same time. Balcony – remove the clutter (replace handrails), and extend the balcony beyond the face of the main facade. This will give the effect of elongating the front elevation of your home. The detail of the new handrail extending along the continuous balcony frontage should in turn provide a fresh new look (more contemporary). Arches – these could remain, or go (depending on your desire to keep the quirkiness). These are likely to be aesthetic brickwork only - but check with a structural engineer if these can be removed. Entrance – there are two parts to this: The first aspect is to do with the appliance from the street frontage. Prioritise making the front door the most welcoming part of your home. This can be done with a pathway from the front of the site, with garden areas and great planting to accentuate the entrance to your home. The other aspect of the entrance is how entrance 'reads' from the outside of your home. This depends a little on your location (and climate). As a guide I'd suggest revising the entry wall, including the door and windows proportions to 'open up' this part of the facade to the street. This should be designed in the context of those iras listed above, as well as benign conscious of security and protection from sun loading. I hope this helps Jaimia, (Keep in mind many of the aspects listed above will require structural design asa minimum!) Cathi

my suggestions keeps a small separate laundry with stacked washer dryer plus a bigger storage space for vacuum, ironing board etc adds a handbasin to the toilet and, using a round shower and curved back to wall bath allows space for a generous vanity ... the new kitchen has a pantry, stacked wall oven and microwave, double sink, dw and space for a 600 - 750 cooktop with floor space for a free standing central chopping block island ... the new location for the dining room allows for a window to the garden and sliding glass doors opening to a deck facing north to warm up the new dining room and kitchen ... there's a new window in the living room and the old back door is replaced with a window and i've added doors across the hallways to zone heating ...with careful choice of standard sized fixtures and fittings your budget should be ok but removing walls will be a big cost but well worth while for such great improvements to your home

Seeking feedback from anyone that has used New Age Veneers or Briggs Veneers for kitchen cabinets.