Dee, if resale is important to you - as in you are planning to sell in the next 5 years, then I would attend as many open houses in your immediate area as you can before you decide all this and just gauge what other homes have and the prices they want for them. You also need to ensure you keep everything in proportion with the rest of your house. If your living areas are not spacious for example, having a very sumptuous master bedroom suite will be totally out of proportion with the rest of the house and not necessarily attractive to buyers. If you are planning on staying in the house for a good length of time - at least 10 years - then forget it, do what you want to make your home comfortable for you. I never cease to be amazed at the renovations and alterations people do after paying top dollars for a home. If you personally have no need for two bathrooms, then maybe accessing the main bathroom from the master bedroom is a good way to go, it depends on your needs regarding the other 3 bedrooms. Is one of the other bedrooms large enough to put a powder room into and still have good space for a bedroom or office. That would give you an extra toilet at least. Does your laundry have room for a shower to add extra amenities that way.

Dear Sophia, I have read your post very carefully and become interested to advise you about flooring. I am a professional flooring consultant. I recommend you the following options : 1. Waterproof Laminate for whole house as you mentioned you want same flooring in Laundry area too. There are few waterproof laminate in the market and I am happy to help you with that if you need me to do that. 2. Carpet (Solution Dyed Nylon or Triexta) for living, dining, study and bedrooms and Vinyl planks or waterproof laminate for Kitchen and Laundry areas. If you need any further please do not hesitate to contact us via http://www.carpetshoponline.com.au/online-enquiry/

Hi Highlandslass I would recommend to try using an indirect light, that floods light back onto the ceiling, so you don't see the actual light source. In particular as you don't actually need to generate too much light from what you say, this will be a really nice option and give you nice ambient lighting. If you go for a warm light (say around 2700-3000 K (that is the measurement for the light temperature) LED, it won't use much energy but create a friendly inviting atmosphere. So you can actually leave it on for a lot of the time and it'll add a nice feel to your home. There's a lot of choice out there for the actual fittings, depending on your style, and they don't cost the earth. Hope that helps, let us know if you need any further assistance :-) Good luck with it ! All the Best Marc.

Like the plans but I personally think, after living in small houses in NZ myself, having the second bedroom separated from the first (at least by the bathroom area) is a better option than 3 bedrooms. You could incorporate an office and entertainment area into the living space instead of adding a 3rd bedroom, or a washer and dryer in a cupboard or into the kitchen as many Europen houses do. Clever storage and multifunctional ideas, e.g. under bed storage, storage under built-in seating that can double as an extra bed, may be much better options than squeezing in a 3rd bedroom. I cannot stress enough how a feeling of space in your open plan living / dining / kitchen area is so important when you cannot utilise the outdoors in winter or inclement weather.