Thank you I visited a few stores in Sydney , bo concepts, king furniture , project 82 and finally jimmy possum and decided on the Massimo and Milmo sofa with ottoman from jimmy possum, many reasons, not only because of the impeccable quality of the sofas and the fact it's Austrlaian made, but after visiting the store twice my husband would fall asleep instantly whilst sitting on them, and that to me was the clincher. Very happy with the staff and service from Jimmy Possum located at Moore Park , Sydney. So excited, 8 weeks to go...

Hi @Robandlyn new designs can take some getting used to. However, the Houzz team is confident that these changes will help Houzzers find relevant questions and answers more quickly. We do not have a 'photo questions' topic however, we'll take this onboard as a suggestion. However, you are still able to post photo questions directly on the photo – As for your concern regarding the leaderboard, it rewards our most active users – as most forums do.

if the original asbestos walls are in good condition then they can re-be painted but if the walls are too damaged to be saved the asbestos needs to be removed by professionals and the cladding replaced, no reason you can't have different profiles on the front and sides as long as joints and corners are sealed properly but if you plan to install new windows it could be better to wait to repair sections of wall as the windows are replaced (i'd prefer to have all the roof and external walls in good condition and then do the internal work at leisure)... .modern fibrous cements are excellent ...we've just used flat fibrous cement with curved battens over joints and very happy with the results for our 50's house (there are several different brands available through the big hardware stores and research on line is much easier than trying to work out the variations in store) the gabled portico can be made as a separate structure or as a extension to the roof with valley gutters depending on placement of the solar panels (and/or solar panels can be moved)

Thank you for your comments. Dreamer, I do agree that it seems a shame to lower a high ceiling. Thanks for your suggestions, Kate. Notice the cornices are different? Not sure why they put a narrow one on the stairwell section! If we put the cornice around the corner, would it be better to replace with the wider one?