Louie - pretty well I think. See my latest renditions below. I have been playing around with how to screen off that toilet/shower area from the living room. Not only would it be preferable to keep the toilet out of sight, but it would also be nice if people pop go down and up the stairs to visit the toilet or shower without having to do a short "walk-of-shame" past the potentially occupied living/dining room. I was thinking a of having a partially-drawn pair of curtains or perhaps one of those dangle-y "fly curtain" type things to disrupt the view a bit, but then I thought a set of swinging doors with tinted/diffuse glass in them, because: 1. You can charge in and out of this busy area by just pushing through the set of doors, and letting them swing back in to place behind you (like saloon doors) 2. The glass panes will still allow the person to see if anyone is on the other side, so they don't bowl them over. Will also let natural light in. Also means could do away with the laundry door perhaps, since it will be kind-of redundant (main purpose was to eliminate washing machine noise in the living area) 3. The doors also stop heat from the fireplace drifting up the stairs on cold winter nights when the fire is going. Not a crucial thing at all, but a nice additional benefit Thanks for sharing the floor plans - it's given me a much clearer picture of what you've done with that pole house...looks fantastic! brizcs - great point about the chair by the window, that's really struck a chord with me so I am toying with ways to do this. One idea I had is in the plan below: Rather than put a narrow table hard against the glass, maybe swing the kitchen table 90 degrees, make it longer, and have people sit along the south side looking out the windows most of the time. When it's night time or there are lots of guests or whatever just drag the chairs to the other side and you're back to the conventional set up. If a table where flush against the windows it would mean a lot of direct sunlight on its surface throughout the cooler months, due to the low angle of the sun (glare might become a problem?)

Growing up our house was so small, we only had the lounge room which had a tv. A rumpus room was something added on! In the house we have now the closed off room which contains tv and all super electronic stuff is called the tv room. I cannot bring myself to call it the home theatre as I think that's hilarious. We also have the room connected to dining and kitchen which is usually termed family room. Then we have downstairs which is termed man cave but cringe at that because it sounds ummmm bogan. Hope no one feels offended haha :-) It is a bit embarrassing though, we have a house with two people and five televisions and we hardly watch them!

You’re right in that it’s quite skinny now. The floor plan I uploaded is actually the original, since then whoever renovated removed the return on the bench and added an island instead. I’ve uploaded a photo of that below (don’t mind the mess :)). We’re struggling to envision how we can modernise the space without shoe horning something in that isn’t quite right, i.e. I’d really love a big island beach but can’t see how we can achieve that without moving the structural wall. As with most families, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen - it’s the busiest part of the house so we’d like it to be modern but also functional with plenty of space for the kids. We see the lounge room as more of a serene, quiet space for us to relax at the end of the day when the kids are in bed. I’ve included more photos of how we currently have the place set up. We’re also going to replace all flooring with vinyl planks (kids and inside dogs don’t mix well with real timber floors).

Thanks for all the responses, it has raised some very valid points for consideration. I have done single bathroom design and it looks like the gains that are made over the bathroom, ensuite and laundry impact the decision. Being able to have more natural light (and ventilation) with bigger windows in a family bathroom and also the ensuite is just one positive. I will gain extra storage in the laundry and really does that ever go astray... being able to have toilet with a door in the ensuite will save burning off my nostril hair (I love my husband but really - is there something wrong) I can fit a double vanity in a family bathroom so for resale value for a family is improved as is a bath. Not going to be a big soaking bath, but will be fine to bath children and still have a separate toilet - not big, but still functional. What do you think?? (I know dimensions are not on, it just a concept but is to scale.