If you are after plans of architecturally designed homes, magazines may be your best bet (try libraries as you are unlikely to get most at the newsagent), however there are also a number of open homes and architecturally designed homes that are open to the public, including the Rose Seidler House. Also, if you are trying to get away from the kit-home look, take note of how the architects and designers use everyday material creatively in unexpected ways to achieve a highly polished look. As for your floor plans, further work is needed to the downstairs plan. I would seriously question whether you need two bathrooms downstairs. The bathroom for the guest room could be used by everyone (maybe consider setting it up as a three-way bathroom). You can remove the doors between the pantry and the butler's pantry, it is already hidden and just uses up space. As MB Design & Drafting has said, there is a lot of empty space on the downstairs plan and there is going to be an empty void around the meals area. Also of note, try to have continuity in your windows - that is, try to minimise the number of different sized windows and ensure they are standard sizes where possible (its cheaper and more cost effective to make 10 of one thing rather than 10 custom sizes); and try to ensure that the header and sills have a relationship. You have engaged an architect as you feel they are able to successfully design you ideal home. I would suggest giving the architect the ability to experiment and push your brief, otherwise you are doing yourself and them a disservice and you should have gone to a draftsperson how would have simply just drawn up your ideas as you stated them. You are on the right track, so don't give up! Often a design needs lots of discussion between the client and the architect before a great design can be achieved. Whilst it is wonderful that public forums such as this exist, ultimately the discussion needs to occur between yourselves and the architect as you are the ones who will be living there. Take time to listen to their ideas, and don't be afraid to question something you don't understand.

hi we have about six months ago now, re done our bath room , similar size to yours, and , i can take some photos and email them to you , we have maximised space, and walls , put in a white stone bath under the window , it is a metre in width , with a cool water spout coming off the centre under the window we pu t afalse ledge in to sit , candles etc on , , we tiles floor to ceiling, off white , wall mirror cabnit with three mirrors , inset into the wall so its only sits out a we bit from the wall tiles , floating bath room vanity , so that it makes the floor space look bigger , . matching stone square basin sits ontop of the vanity to one side so plenty of room to sit all your bath room stuff when need be , seperate shower all tiled as well , with inset , shelves for shampoo etc, also , when you open the bath room door and walk in when you close the bath room door behind it next to the shower is a very narrow floor to ceiling shelvec for towels, now the hole is there we jaust havent got the shelves put in yet. , we gt loads of comments as the bth room dosent look small evn though it is , , most expensive item the sqwat extra wide stone bath , made to order basin / tap ware and shower spray thing ,oh and the white stone vanity which we had made to order as well , due to the sizing .

The tile floor will always be the elephant in the room so consider if it is realistic to change. If you must keep the tiles here are some other fixes that will improve the space. 1. Look through Houzz and make a scrapbook of what you like - You need to determine the style of the kitchen -if you are to keep the doors you could head towards a hamptons style. Consider how the adjoining spaces are decorated as any changes may need adjustments elsewhere. I would cost out each element of the job and decide if you can do it all - possibly over time, as when you do one thing it makes others look shabby and the decisions you make for one aspect would have been different with an overall plan. 1. Remove the pelmet in the kitchen. 2. Paint the cupboards - possible going to a darker colour on the bottom and a lighter on the top. A dark charcoal could work and a grey toned white for the top cupboards. There are some nice Caesarstone options that could pick up these tones with a marble look. 3. The handles need to be heavier as they are trying to be contemporary when the cupboard profile is more traditional 4. You need to replace the bench top- this is your biggest problem as it is totally dated. 5. Your pantry doors ? are different and need to have the same handles. 6. Could go with white glass subways with a soft grey toned grout. If you change the cupboard profile - a squared off shaker style would work- remember that many of the gloss white kitchen s being built these days will soon be dated - so depending on the age of the house - stay traditional. good luck.

It is awkward and trying to work with the space we were given and the existing windows and on other info makes it very hard. But Houzz is a place to ask for ideas and I love to push the boundaries so that it makes you think about what just might be possible so that you don't end up with another same old same old space. I haven't noticed that Island benches are no longer desired..Anne is using a professional cabinet maker and was looking for inspiration/ideas for when she meets him/her. You might be surprised just how much experience some Houzzers have under their belts