Hi, Just a few quick tips to take or leave: -The nook will need some form of natural light & ventilation such as a skylight (you may already be aware). -You mentioned you wanted a slab on ground for thermal reasons. You would actually lose a lot of heat with an uninsulated slab on ground in Ballarat. Insulated underneath it and the thermal mass would be of benefit, but the general advice that a slab on ground will allow thermal mass to couple with the earth for a constant temperature would not work in Ballarat (unless you want it to be constantly cold) -Otherwise your plan has a lot of positives and you've put your thermal mass wall & fire to the north so you could also use it to store the heat from the sun via windows. I think there is a little wasted space which could be improved between the kitchen and N/E living area caused by the 'long & skinny' shaped living and island bench... Something which could be tweaked when you have your working drawings done? Or you could even take a metre out and push the kitchen/dining up to save some floor area (dollars) or add to other rooms.

I have noticed that people worry about condensation in Laundry cupboards, and it's such a simple thing to deal with, we did laundry cupboards and the F&P dryer had duct kit that was fitted to the dryer and then out through the wall across the ceiling and came out through the eaves (Not the roof). Worked beautifully and when the laundry door was closed it was very quiet even with machines running. The laundry cupboard still allows light and a decent passageway through the house Kitchen and bathrooms sell houses and add value. I think maintaining the existing rooms as much as possible and turning the current bathroom into the ensuite is a great solution to give you a better Master suite. you would just need to add a door at the entrance to the master The laundry becoming the family bathroom with toilet for everyone to use including visitors. The possible extension to the rear of the house across the one wall (Living/ dining/ kitchen would be more affordable than doing two walls, the new rear wall would mainly be made up of doors and windows. The one thing I would like to see is to keep the roof extension in sympathy with the rest of the house., tall ceilings and character, would make your house look and work brilliantly. Everything comes at a cost, but making these changes should prove cost effective, instead of the expense of adding a new double garage and master suite to the front of the house. Keep the charm of your house and by spending time in the front garden would really make a difference, cheers

Hi there Dave, sorry for not responding sooner, I have been a bit unwell. I would like to add the following ideas. 1) You mention going to a kitchen company and showing your current kitchen plan, the better thing for you to have done would to have taken your floor plan with measurements and asked them what they would suggest, as long as they didn't want to charge you. This way you would get more ideas, not just them politely agreeing hoping to get your business, and why not, 2) I would contact several builders to come on site and give you their ideas of what needs to be done and advise if you would need to involve council and the building costs involved in doing this. The builders will have their own trades electrical and plumbing that work as a team 3) You mention flat packs, they are a great option and can save you a lot of money, Bunnings will do a kitchen plan and cost in store at no charge, Ikea will do the same but not sure about any charges. You can also go online to both and work out a plan, but I would strongly suggest you speak face to face them as they know their product. Bunnings run in store programs where they show you how to assemble their cabinets, both stores have video tutorials, believe me it's worth watching as flat pack anything can be a nightmare. If you can assemble your own cabinets in your own time it will save you a.lot of money, starting sooner than later would be a very good idea I didn't get up to mentioning in planning the layout of your kitchen that the larger the cabinets you use will also save money, ie 2 x 900 as against 3 x 600, the cost per unit plus instead of paying for 3 cabinets to be installed it's 2. It's also makes for a simpler looking design. Most of our Bunnings kitchen is made up of 900 units 2 x Drawers & 900 units 3 x drawer. The exception is 800 cabinet for the sink. 5) Cook top, I would strongly suggest you work a 900 into your kitchen (this would mean having to use a smaller cabinet either side or just between the cook top and the wall). 900 cook tops give superior space to use especially when using large pots/woks and fry pans, they also help to protect laminated bench tops from accidental put down and burns, 6) Range hood, the best look for your kitchen wouldn't be a large stainless wall mounted unit and that's good news as the intergrated ones in over head cabinets would not only look better, give more storage and would cost less. 7) The Island, you have been trying to decide what size, well if you don't have plumbing installed, the island can be free standing with or with out plinths and can be moved if you decide you need more space. You do need to have a couple of power points but make sure they have a longer connection. Our Island is 2.7 x 1200 and has both a cook top and oven with power points and can be moved approx 500m in each direction due to having longer connections. 8) Bench tops, you mention laminate due to cost, we had that problem what with the size of the island. So we went with Plywood (not Marine) We went to Mr Plywood who when the next delivery came in chose a piece with a beautiful grain, had it cut to size and delivered. The plywood sheet came in a 3 meter length but not all do, we had enough to do the sink bench and a top for a tressel table & legs my better half made. cost with delivery 2hrs approx $400. We did a shadow line bench top which had a smaller size white set back under lay. You need to use a good two pack pot sealant on the Plywood. Finally I don't know where I got the picture of the retro coloured kitchen cabinets, but look online at both Bunnings and Ikea cheers

what will the basements space be used for if you can't use it for a garage? where will you keep a car?...i can't read the measurements on the plan...please show only your side and write in all the measurements big enough to read and i will attempt to redraw as requested but if you are building a duplex can you have a different plan to next door and what happened to the south facing windows in the original plan?