My first question would be where are you located? Cairns will have very different requirements to Tasmania, due to their different climates. While I agree with other posters, that flipping the plan will give you more light, the living areas will be similar in any case. Receiving N, E & S light. Flipping the plan will give additional bedrooms northern light, instead of the garage. But the main point is trying to get northern light into your living areas, & direct sunlight into those living areas in winter. This is difficult on such a narrow block. So my next question is what is to the north of your block? A neighbouring property I presume? If this is a two story property it will badly shade your living areas, no matter what you do. So what's the best way to get northern light (other than going up & building a two storey home, to get northern light into the top storey)? It's to build as close to the southern boundary as possible, so your northern windows are as far from your boundary as possible. This will reduce overshadowing from your northern neighbour. It looks like you have a zero lot boundary for your garage. How far is it from your meals area to the boundary, & how far is it from the kitchen to the boundary? If the plan is flipped, how far will it be from the family room to the boundary? What I'm getting at is, which orientation is less likely to have overshadowing of your northern neighbour of your living areas?

Further to some previous comments I’ve made over the past few years on various subject matters ; anyone that would like some further detailed information on the subject on sun control window insulation films as an option to consider for improving both heat loss and heat gains through windows ( also referred too as window tinting and / or glass tinting ) , including glass security /glare control / fade protection and decorative glass treatments etc can check out some articles I had printed in the “ The Owner Builder “ magazine no’s 180 & 181 ( Dec-Feb 2013-2914 editions ) It may help those understand a little better the product for those having various issues, such as this present subject matter on cooling methods , in this comment section . As others have mentioned, one product may not solve all their particular problem/s and quite often more than one product / solution may often be required to obtain a better outcome . I’ve found a lot of problems start initially with overall buildings design , orientation and the amount of glass / windows used and their sizes /design and type / amount of insulation used overall . Having been in the window tinting industry for about 38 years now and covering both domestic and commercial buildings , I’ve noticed how the weather patterns changed to an extent that the solutions/ products that may have been available / used some 30 odd years ago ; now have new and updated products / solutions on offer . One can email me for further advice to clarify some issues . Although I’m a Tasmanian based business, I’ve lived and worked all around Australia and spent over 5-1/2 years in north Qld so do have some experience living in different climates .

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Lots to learn and so much to consider. I ended up doing more research to decide sizes for built in and walk in robes. We decided to keep one of the bedrooms at the front of the house to be used as my husbands work space. We have 2 kids and get interstate visitors often which is why we initially wanted a study plus 4 bedrooms. But I like the idea of a living space to break up the hallway a bit and to let some light in. I know we have to think about the northern light for the front room, but my husband works in there every day so I think it works better energy-wise. We moved the guest bathroom closer to living space as per oklouise’s plans (so helpful!!) and did a similar configuration. I think it’s nice for entertaining for guests to have easy access and not to have to walk past bedrooms to use the bathroom. With the reconfiguration and the extra length we added to the family/meals area. I think it’s looking like a pretty good sized area without going over our budget. The kitchen also no longer faces the hallway which is so much nicer I’ve attached our updated plans

Whilst I do some of the things listed, probably at least 10, my number one thing apart from putting everything that can go away put away, it is that everything has to be totally decluttered and perfectly finished off with flowers or a flowering plant so my kitchen might look brand new and unused, I just so love that "staged" look!!