Great to hear that you have decided not to paint the brickwork. Can I offer my opinion - I'd suggest painting the garage door and surrounding frame and the adjacent beam and column (currently white) in a dark charcoal/brown to match the ground floor brickwork try Dulux Namandji or Mali. I would redo the retaining wall with large boulders in a more freestyle layout than the current straight line and take up some of the concrete drive near the retaining wall to create a garden on the lower level, curved to still provide access to all of the undercroft unless you wish to enclose part of it with a large full height window. I'd love to see the wrought iron balustrade painted black. My home in the mid sixties had salmon coloured bricks, white window frames and fabulous turquoise gutters! The downpipes were painted to match the bricks thankfully - turquoise might have been a bit over the top! Good luck with your project, would love to see your progress. W

Stunning! Keeping the original cottage is so respectful of the history, and bringing it into the future so thoughtfully is genius. A gracious old lady dons a beautiful new coat.

$300k would be the building budget only and will often not include the architect or other professional service fees like surveyors, engineers and certifiers. The biggest point to remember, is the reason behind engagement of an architect. Are you after a great lifestyle outcome in your home. Are you are detailed person wanting to ensure there is a place for everything in your home. Does your site offer something where you can gain by tremendiously. Do you want your own ideas challenged. The fees set by different architects are yes based around scope of service but also based around their skills and so not all architects do charge the same rates. My own service is for the building architecture, interior design and landscape design, you might say what does that have to do with my lounge room extension and in your case there maybe only interior scope or your external spaces maybe also impacted. My services also includes external real costing work from a cost planner, so you'll know how much your project will be very soon along he steps the delivery process. My service includes project management and my services covers off on a huge range of sustainable and passive design principles which are applied to my clients projects for best outcome. This is why architects fees can vary between providers. It is your lifestyle outcome that is at stake, Once you have spent the money you need to live with it or sell so ensure you factor in the gain in your assessment of fees . Be careful even though some architects have alot of positive reviews this does not mean their design ideas and direction are going to be best for you. Just agreeing with a clients thoughts is not helpful to a client. I charge on a combination of square metre and hourly service and percentage only on request by my clients. $3000 per sqm mention above is mid standard not high spec finish . But standard is subjective as well so this must be worked through with your architect.

If you want Scandi or rustic then an oak benchtop on your existing kitchen and new door handles will do wonders. I know you don't want wastage but your kitchen is already 30yrs old so it's hardly that. It's the colour of the benchtop that dates the kitchen the most. A solid oak benchtop is a very minor update that will last at least a few decades to come. If you update the splashback then use a composite board or pressed tin over the existing tiles it's economical and fast with impressive results. I'd go pressed tin in brick or traditional geometric if I wanted rustic. You can have it powder coated any colour you like before installing and they do look great in modern homes. Easy to clean as well. Here's a smart modern example of a final look....Oak and pressed tin on white kitchen I would see painting either tile or laminate as a last choice. Unless you have it done professionally (they use an acrylic resin not paint btw) and spray it on with professional spray guns, it generally looks terrible and wears even worse. Having it done professionally is surprisingly expensive and you may find the upgrades above are the same or similar cost. I wouldn't change your top cabinets for open shelves unless you love cleaning and the look of clutter. It looks fab on Pinterest but that's because they've got those shelves styled with rows of uniform bowls, glasses and canisters. I have in them in my current home the only way they look good is if you do exactly the same. I bought sets of canisters and changed all my glasware for that reason. With the usual mishmash of items in a normal house they aren't a good idea.