Hi Sophie, I immediately agree with the suggestion to remove the angled/chamfered wall to the bedroom entry and create a small lobby, although a good alternative is to consider a straight-run stair and adding a corridor wall to create a 'private' zone - then toilet can stay where it is, tucked in under stair, and privacy (and acoustic/smell separation to the toilet) is created for living and master bedroom. This might mean widening the kitchen room by 100mm or so (noting some reductions mentioned below) and mirroring the bathroom/rumpus arrangement upstairs - it does create a bit more circulation but adds a lovely sense of space when don't have your main circulation through the middle of a room. The laundry pantry is not the usual arrangement - and the distance needed to travel to the linen cupboard is excessive. I would definitely flip the arrangement of laundry /pantry and try to turn the linen into some kind of study nook off the new corridor - and get rid of the tiny desk near the front door!! Imagine that lovely living space with light coming in from the porch which is facing north. That brings up the final comment that north is where the garage is and the main kitchen is therefore south-east facing, this is fine for morning but it is darker for the afternoons. This is a bit harder to change, but the kitchen could be reworked to turn through 90 degrees to face the garden but extend across to the west facade to allow afternoon light in. The nook could be deleted (which blocks afternoon light to deck) and the deck could extend or wrap around the corner for afternoon light. A little corner of deck in the afternoon sun you would never regret! Your draftie designer would need to look at this in detail as the west external wall would might need to shift inwards and south widen into garden, but if afternoon light is important to you then I would encourage you to consider this change too.

Hi siriuskey I apologise for not replying to you earlier but I have been reviewing your last plan over and over wanting to use the layout of the kitchen but concerned about the other changes. My main concern was the wiw/laundry area and the loss of a room, either the study or bed 4. But the idea gave me food for thought and I have been trying to work out a solution. Where there’s a will there’s a way! I can see exactly what you mean about having the Butler’s Pantry in front of the window which was a major concern of mine even though I thought the servery was a really good idea. Thank-you for taking the time to point this out …and in such depth which would’ve been very time consuming for you! I must admit it was a surprise to see the kitchen placement in your last layout. I would never ever have thought about doing that but loved the idea! I have tweaked the plans a little by simplifying some of the changes and adding a few of my original ideas and I think I have come up with a solution. I will be very interested on your thoughts! I placed the existing furniture (to size) into each of the rooms to see how it works with the new layout. Oh… and I love your suggestion about being able use the dining/family rooms as either! I have also left the wall between the family room and lounge to see how it works before removing it completely but opened it up with double doors allowing entry from the front door to the main area...and a view of the fireplace is always welcoming. It’s a great idea for a toilet and shower to service the pool area under the deck downstairs…I think that would work as there’s no limestone there (and no we’re not in SA) but I’II look at that once I get organised with these plans! Thank-you again for your time and help…your feedback on my ‘tweaking’ would be greatly appreciated!

anything is possible with enough money but with such a modest budget you might achieve the new bathroom and kitchen OR the extension but it would be difficult to achieve both at the same time but you haven't answered the questions??? what is the distance from the house to the back fence, what are all the floors, walls and roof built out of (ie inside and outside walls, concrete slab on ground, or is it a timber floor with crawl space underneath the house?? and NB where is north? ...what is the shape of the roof (hip or gable tiled roof or??) ...do you have an aerial photo of the roof like Google earth??...extending over the retaining wall shouldn't be a problem with proper cosntruction and there isn't anywhere else to go without losing the best outdoor area that has easy access to inside...the extra lengths of pipe isn't the biggest cost of new plumbing and a ventilating skylight will make a great light source for an internal bathroom...

@ddarroch - you suggest rotating the home so it faces a compass point. Which compass point would you recommend? I'm leaning towards north facing but would appreciate your thoughts on this. Based on what I have read online, and the fact that we live north of Brisbane in a rural/residential area, I am trying to achieve a house orientation that excludes direct sunlight and minimises radiant heat at all times of the year and maximising access to cooling breezes. I'm just not sure how to achieve this on the block we are now building on as I keep getting conflicting feedback.