Hi Mike and Emma Hope you are slowly but surely getting there... may I make some comments/suggestions that you may or not take on board, but hopefully it may at least give you some ideas/options... Going through a new build ourselves at the moment, and for what it's worth, here's what I personally think: A. Work with what you've got: - additional plumbing work, gas work etc may not be necessary and (particularly gas) can be costly when you're trying to work around existing walls, floors, etc, and as much as possible utilise the existing connections... after whatever you can save here and there, you can spend on nicer cabinetery, gadgets, finishes, etc :) B. Avoid unnecessry structural work: - removing the kitchen/living wall is a must (more space, light, etc) but removing the laundry wall is an unncessary added cost (may even require costly additional strutural support) - putting up a plastered wall on the other hand is inexpensive, allows you to redefine different zones and relocate doors/openings where required (*note: avoid hinged doors in small spaces as you have to allow for wasted space to open door - suggest cavity sliding doors, easy to incorporate in a new wall) C. Don't sacrifice functionality and natural light for design - love full height floor to ceiling cabinets, very much on trend... but they also tend to bring the walls in, which you want to avoid in an already small space... they will also block out more natural ligtht from the only window to the living and breakfast bench (meals area)... not to mention seated guests would be staring at a cabinet tower and fridge - on the other hand a walk in pantry (not that much of a walk in a small space) is also very much on trend, provides more storage and... as entertaining guests in open plan livings tends to happen more in the kitchen... it provides a good hiding place for unsightly items, including frigges... (an underbench bar fridge in the kitchen can easily keep those beers cold... though do consider that means sacrificing some cabinet space) - constantly wiping off the floors from dripping wet dishes across the kictchen from the sink to the dishwaser on the other side bench would personally drive me mad after a while... the dishwasher can easily be connected to the existing sink water and waste points through the cabinerty... any half decent plumber should be able to do that... ON THAT NOTE... or should I say those notes... I know I got a bit carried away :) ... if it were me, here's an idea of what I would try to achieve ...

Hi Harmony, Yes it is getting there! Laundry/kitchen: If I can read the dims my plan will work very well. See if you can follow me here.. left to right dims… l'd 600 bench, 1 m walk, 600 broom & shelf in pantry, 700 depth for 'frige and panty is then 1300, 1200 between benches & 1200 wide island = 2400 along outside wall for DW & sss. This should leave 3600 for meals which is great. Keep chute: get it in the right place! washing then arrives in l'dry. So bench backing garage is where u want bench (sorting) sink (rinse & soak) WM then TD if you need one with bench above. and overhead cupboards to keep the nasties out of kiddies reach. This is the flow of washing from dirty to washed to go outside. The other side backing kitchen is ideal to have some rails to finish off drying or airing, for brought in clean clothes, when ready: fold, stack for kids to take back up stairs. With broom cupboard next to outside door, there are no dead corners! Yippee! Someone put a powder room in here but not needed with the guest bedroom just across the hall. I was trying to make the shower and loo not visible from hall but still accessible from outside. I am sure guests staying of visiting can use this bathroom. Upstairs: I like my layout for ensuite: robe first putting distance between bathroom and bed. Window in robe I mentioned, so you can find sox without light, also lovely to open up for fresh air blast every now then. Looking along vanity to bath and to window. I do like the separate room for loo please with a window. Again not sure of dims but sure it will fit. Bathroom is tope with three people able to use it at once and each area with light and air. Doesn't matter with linen store. to have light and air. This looks to me like a lot of house to clean but a forever home to enjoy entertaining as kiddies grow and family expands. I hope you let us know the final plans and built pix would be lovely to see too. May I ask a favour of you: to write a short testimonial on my page here on Houzz so as others can find me and my design skills too. Thank you Cheers and good luck. Margot

my suggestions include reducing the "ins and outs" to make construction simpler and adds a little extra space including a porch off the laundry, the downstairs living area and dining room size feels comfortable with your scale sized furniture and the small lounge is a good size for watching TV, the door from the garage has been rearranged to separate the entry hall from a narrower central hallway, reduced the length and widened the pantry to make a separate storage room (or this area could be used for a childrens' computer nook)..the short door under the stairs from the lounge will be impossible to use without moving furniture..upstairs has all minor bedrooms a similar size without any western windows as every window should include emergency exits and extra brightness can be added with solar skylights that don't overheat, the new bathroom is more spacious and has more storage in the generous vanities as well as tall storage in the bathroom and hallway, the retreat is bigger and ens and wiw more spacious but all the windows need rethinking as upstairs east and south facing windows can also overheat and why have a sliding door off the guest room at the front of the house and the shallow balcony could be substituted with French balconies off the master bedroom and retreat.. and the X shown in the master ens and laundry is the only suitable location for a laundry shute my rough plans add up to a total floor area of 372sqm without any allowance made for the extra thickness of external walls

I took into consideration your new Fridge pantry alcove when I designed your kitchen to get you the max island and still being well placed within the kitchen. If the island isn't attached to the fridge wall you would need to leave a 1m space between them which would reduce the 3m Island as I have shown, the dotted wall shows the length of your kitchen, and how the island fits into that space, you could extend the island further into the dining if you wanted, I can redraw that for you. As I said with both of your plans drawn differently Both OKL and myself had a differnt result