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 Belinda, thanks for letting me know about your daylight. That is really interesting - so the pool and garden - and a living and dining area - are to the east and south of the house, due to the orientation of the block no doubt, and the bedrooms are blocking off all the north light! I am guessing this means the house gets a lot of light from these windows in the morning until midday, when the sun swings past the bedrooms/bath/laundry which block afternoon sun unless these doors are open. Further, the kitchen is hemmed in on all 3 sides and really just faces due east - good because this is where the garden and pool are, but with little view to the south dining and living area, which presumably are used as more formal spaces. The good news is I don't think you would get much benefit from relocating the kitchen - I think it is in the best spot, kitchens are much better at being internal 'hubs' and linking to living areas - it is these living areas that we want to connect directly with outside. I do however have something else for you to think about longer term as a masterplan....and I am guessing here because I am not sure of the shape of your garden.....however next time your en-suite is due for a major renovation, you could relocate the main bed, w.i.r and ensuite across to the current south-facing living room and dining (or study). By doing this, you can create a complete open-plan east end to the house, and all living / dining areas would have direct garden and patio access and more importantly much more sunlight. The north-east corner would be part of this open-plan space and would need a new large window on the north wall. You could extend this wall slightly if funds permitted but this wouldn't be essential. There are both smaller and larger masterplan alternatives; for example a smaller option (for the masterplan) not involving any plumbing, is to swap bed 2 and 3 with the south living room/study area (blocking off the hallway area) and open up the north wall of the kitchen to look into this new formal north-facing living room - this could be quite fun and definitely would add more light to the house. However in the meantime good luck with the kitchen renovation, and look for images that show suspended overhead cabinets as a way of dealing with the raking ceiling!

Hi Khanh, we bought a 40 year old 2 storey house and it needs a lot of work (I'm 40 and need a lot of work too but that's besides the point lol)... the kitchen does not have a pantry (we're using an old melamine cupboard for that but it's not close to the oven, fridge or sink) so meal prep involves getting everything out of the cupboard first, before packing a picnic and venturing into the kitchen lo - and for a cripple like me with a multitude of health issues, it is inconvenient and extremely impractical... we removed an old intrusive bulkhead to help open up the space and allow more light but following some not so great advice from the father in law, we need to plaster and repaint again where the bulkhead was removed as it's showing some cracks :/ It is an awkwardly laid out space .... the rest of the house has Fraser Island hardwood floors - and while we did replace a thousand layers of lino in the kitchen with really nice grey tiles, there is no connectivity between the kitchen and the smallish lounge/dining space. We could potentially add a few stools to make a breakfast bar on the lounge/dining side of the kitchen counter, but then we have no clue where the dining table would go if we did that. I'm not sure if I had the money to throw at it whether we would just 'tart it up' a little, or gut it and change the layout completely to create a better, practical flow for not just the kitchen, but the dining/lounge space as well.

I would do sink on back wall in front of window. Stove on the side wall that has the window. Could do 2 windows either side of stove. With stove on side you can still chat whilst cooking. Tall storage on opposite wall and fridge