oklouise thanks for the ideas. We have actually really thought about the zoning. We want the two bedrooms on the southern side with a bathroom between for privacy. We also want the eastern lounge room to pop out as a dining room in that spot will waste a gorgeous view. We had a straight alfresco and thought it was all a bit hohum. I will attach the first and second drafts to see where we have come from. The first draft we had drawn was too boring for us ... Garry hated draft 2 as he thought it was too wide for solar access and didn't give cross ventilation (north to south or vv). It's only positive was the flow of west/east cross ventilation. Also the bathroom was too tucked away for guest use when we are using that nice alfresco area. We quickly scrapped all those ideas... LOL As I said, we like skillion roof lines and are planning on clerestory windows to maximise northern sun. Some raked ceilings will probably happen too (and definitely 9 foot ceilings in living areas). the mudroom/laundry will probably be incorporated into the hallway. Unlike some on this forum previously I don't object to entering through the laundry. It kind of gives a landing spot for groceries from the car on those cold days you don't want to leave the whole house open. The garage may actually be a carport to ensure we can have ventilation come through that way and to help us with budget.

Talk me through the window in the wir. Is it behind a dressing table ? If so no mirror can go there etc Your clothes may fade...and you will need a window covering if faces street. ..which may be permanently closed and therefore Not really needed..? Ild put two slim floor to ceiling Windows each side of bed, but at the sides of the bedside tables. Not behind them. Tables block half the lights! Maybe 600 mm wide, Small window at top and small at bottom so hot air can go out and cooler air come in. We have that on all our floor to ceiling Windows

A custom design and build will generally be more expensive than a project home of a similar speciifcation. If you are happy to make a few compromises the cheapest approach would be to find a project builder with a standard plan that matches your requirements as close as possible. Remember that most project builders can flip an entire plan from left hand to right hand, but most will not want to make significant alterations and redesign of their standard plans. It all comes down to your budget and what compromises you are prepared to make (or not make). Also you should be aware about the copyright that exists in all project and custom design house plans. It is illegal to take a plan from one builder, make a few changes, and ask another builder to construct it. https://undercoverarchitect.com/can-you-use-a-floorplan-you-find-online/ When you engage a professional to design your home from scratch (without reference to builder's copyrighted plans) you can get exactly what you want, and arrange competitive quotes between builders. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Thanks everyone for your comments so far. Some great points have been made and I'm going to take each one of the away to have a think about. In the meantime, I've asked my draftsman to provide me all the measurements to existing and proposed so I can share it here as soon as I get them. Some more info: We're located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Our budget is approximately around the $200k...this is so we don't over capitalise on the property. We thought about building to one boundary because we are of the thinking that we need more width to achieve the space we want. As a guesstimate, I believe the block is 12m or so wide. Each lane way is approximately 1.5m (3m combined) which only leaves us with an internal width of 9m (minus walls). We chose to explore building to the eastern boundary because existing utilities such as hot water system, ducted heating are already setup there. Moving it to the western boundary would cost $$. The eastern laneway has nice new concrete paving and allows us to more easily access it from our carport.The other reason for potentially building to the east is because we're the 2nd last house on the street (near a corner). We get a bit of traffic on our street but more so on the street parallel the western wall. I thought it would be more peaceful moving the house away from the traffic and noise rather than towards it. Also, the addition of the dining area (connected to kitchen and alfresco) will give us a bit more privacy from the street (parallel to western wall) when we're out on the alfresco/deck. Just my thinking but happy to get some further feedback. We're happy to consider keeping the current building boundary if we can achieve the design we want etc. I've attached a few pictures of the existing low ceilings towards the back of the house. The pics show the ceiling from kitchen and towards the back door (curtains are closed). The ceiling is about 2.4m and you can see the exposed beams which makes the ceiling feel even lower. I'm only 1.6m and I can touch them with my finger tips if I try... Whether it's a full knock down or increasing the height of the roof, I think it's the one thing we're about improving/removing. Hope that's some more info for everyone to go off... Thanks again for everyone who has already replied and made some great points. Cheers