Hi Em, I'm not suggesting that you have to start again, only that it may provide you with a better outcome than trying to work with what you already have. By starting with a blank canvas, new possibilities arise. I agree with most of Amelias comments and I'm not interested in getting further involved beyond my general comments. Good passive solar design is now a fundamental of good design practice these days and that was not evident in the single level plan you published. It's not just about northern sun, which can be excluded in summer by a simple roof overhang, it's also about excluding the extremes of the sun from the east and primarily from the west. So you can see that your games room will suffer the hot afternoon sun in summer as it had a lot of glazing facing the western sun. Protect that elevation with a blank wall to exclude the sun or at least restrict the glazing to the west by incorporating either slot windows or high level windows that gain protection with screens or roof overhangs. Open up the games room with glazing to its north and east. Create a small courtyard perhaps with some luscious landscaping or water feature that works for both the games room and the living room. Returning the glazing will allow for large glass doors to slide back into pocket walls bringing the garden into the home and blurring the line between home and garden, thus making it feel bigger. By incorporating more glazing to the north you will visually "widen" your home, making it feel less restricted because the room boundary will visually move to the fence line while at the same time providing better solar access during the winter months, which helps warm the home and maintain a year round comfort level. Sydney has a mild winter compared to southern Australia. Take a look at some of the homes designed for narrow east facing sites in the northern beaches of Sydney or on the far north coast in places such as Salt. They all have similar siting as you have. They all offer mass glazing to the North and open their living up to the north and the east with pools, terraces and outdoor living areas etc. Don't be scared of experimenting with simple shapes at first. Just pencil in where you want the various functions to be placed and make sure that they work together. Move them around until you think you have the relationship right and go from there. A well planned house is a dream to live in. A poorly designed house will remind you every day that there is something wrong. So invest well in the design because it will pay dividends. Sure, seek help but be cautious because the help can be confusing which is why I have tried to take a general approach to it all rather than squawk over this or that. It's your home and you have to live in it, not me, not AU or OK or anyone else. Keep it simple and have it function like a well oiled machine and you will love it.

Love them all but I ESPECIALLY LOVE Club Snowflake!! So colourful and special.

I don't mind the current colour, but this is your house. Go white. Any yellow/red based cream will just warm the area up further. I'm guessing the previous owner went grey to cool it down, and it is also on-trend at the moment. The yellow accents are very clever. Given the floors are the issue- perhaps talk to a floor re-finisher and ask about having them sanded and resealed. Some of the cheaper poly surfaces do turn orange with age. These floors don't look stained to me, they look like they have an oranged-polyeurothane finish on them. Most of the new-age finishes won't orange.

Like others have said, the space looks incredibly bland at the moment. Everything - floors, walls, ceiling, blinds - are all the same colour. If you look at the inspiration pics, there is contrast. The great thing about it is it is truly a blank canvas and you can choose how and where to introduce the contrast to add interest, whether it be rug, wallpaper, art, hall table, plants or whatever. Just one word of caution - I have seen others that have started off with a 'blank canvas' then going on and adding far too many different elements and bits and pieces and it just ends up looking busy and disconnected.