Louie - pretty well I think. See my latest renditions below. I have been playing around with how to screen off that toilet/shower area from the living room. Not only would it be preferable to keep the toilet out of sight, but it would also be nice if people pop go down and up the stairs to visit the toilet or shower without having to do a short "walk-of-shame" past the potentially occupied living/dining room. I was thinking a of having a partially-drawn pair of curtains or perhaps one of those dangle-y "fly curtain" type things to disrupt the view a bit, but then I thought a set of swinging doors with tinted/diffuse glass in them, because: 1. You can charge in and out of this busy area by just pushing through the set of doors, and letting them swing back in to place behind you (like saloon doors) 2. The glass panes will still allow the person to see if anyone is on the other side, so they don't bowl them over. Will also let natural light in. Also means could do away with the laundry door perhaps, since it will be kind-of redundant (main purpose was to eliminate washing machine noise in the living area) 3. The doors also stop heat from the fireplace drifting up the stairs on cold winter nights when the fire is going. Not a crucial thing at all, but a nice additional benefit Thanks for sharing the floor plans - it's given me a much clearer picture of what you've done with that pole house...looks fantastic! brizcs - great point about the chair by the window, that's really struck a chord with me so I am toying with ways to do this. One idea I had is in the plan below: Rather than put a narrow table hard against the glass, maybe swing the kitchen table 90 degrees, make it longer, and have people sit along the south side looking out the windows most of the time. When it's night time or there are lots of guests or whatever just drag the chairs to the other side and you're back to the conventional set up. If a table where flush against the windows it would mean a lot of direct sunlight on its surface throughout the cooler months, due to the low angle of the sun (glare might become a problem?)

it's only about 3 steps and should be less than 60cm high but i'd keep the steps under 1 m wide to avoid stealing space from the dining area but what about a fence along the edge of the walkway with an optional gate or door across the steps. the "fence" could be made up of a storage cabinet built up from the dining room floor with access from the dining room and the new hallway to the new bathroom would create more storage but include privacy for the new bathroom even if parts of the screen wall didn't reach the ceiling...not fond of access to the laundry through the bathroom, i'd prefer in AND out through only one door from the family room with no external access door and a simple laundry chute from new Bath to laundry

Hi Bella, I think it is smart to be strategic in how you approach council. My suggested process as follows: 1. Talk to your neighbours, show them what you have in mind. The goal being to keep them on your side. Ask for their honest opinion- better they give it now, than tell council about it during DA. Objections can be a major issue (even just 1). 2. Engage a private Town Planner for 1 hr. Show them your sketches. Ask them to review how compliant it is. There are many layers to this, some depending on what part of Marrickville you are in- heritage, flood, etc. Then all the typical for inner west- shadowing (the biggest issue for 2-storey alts&adds), FSR, tree conservation, on-site water management, build form/bulk and scale....the list goes on. Town Planners are around $200/hr and it may be the best $200 you spend during DA. Many architects will consult TP's after the DA goes in. This has never worked well for us. You can save yourself the $200 if you want to wade through councils many volumes of DCP's and LEP's. Frankly they hurt my head! My honest advice would be to submit the most compliant plan possible. This may mean some big compromises from you.....BUT.....the end goal is to get an approval. A DA rejection is $$$ lost and time lost. Once you have your approval, you can go back Oliver Twist-style and ask for more (eg: the compromises you made) with a Section 96. If they reject a s96- it's no major $$ or time lose. You can still appeal a 96 rejection to council or court. There is less to review,meaning less expense to you. Do a Pre-DA meeting with council. You will know straight up where they are going to nit-pick you. Make the adjustments for DA, then try again in s96 if you are that committed to it. I've not commented on when you engage an architect. Probably after 2 though. Always use local professionals. They know how to manage the council. Good luck!

I think balconies off bedrooms are a luxury. If you can afford them, great, go for it. If not- invest elsewhere, where something will get more use. Where we live the council are stopping all balconies due to privacy-loss from over-looking, lots of people now doing the juliet balcony/window as suggested above. I think they are awesome for living areas. Again a luxury for a bedroom. I imagine it is not a cheap build option either with glazed balustrade and waterproofing the inside of the room? I work with teenagers. Their idea of decompressing now involves many hours holed-up in a cave (dark bedroom) and on a device!....fresh air and sunlight pfft- what's that!?!