Oh, that is a dilemma I can identify with. I remember reading a comment somewhere that went something like "your home is not meant to be a museum" and sometimes it helps me to remind myself of that. Of course you want to keep treasured mementos but you have to find where to draw the line between surrounding yourselves with love and memories and surrounding yourself with a cluttered museum. The handles look removable? I think it would look better without the handles. Would you have any use for it without handles? Could it live on that top shelf of the pantry alongside the turkey platter and whatever else is seasonal which you get down a few times a year? Or is it really something you wouldn't ever use for any purpose and don't really have any storage space for?

practicallity wise with young kids shaggy is going to be a nightmare ..wool is good as warm in Winter..and hypoallergenic.. Harvey Norman have great rug sales sometimes 40% off just keep an eye out for them.. I don't buy wool I just buy what looks nice and is practical.. 2 of my kids have eczema and they find wool rugs rough and itchy..we used to have a wool rug at our old place..so I only buy synthetic now..

The laundry in a cupboard under cover somewhere near the back door was what I was thinking. I would imagine that a house would lose value without an internal laundry but we don't plan to move anytime soon and our house is definitely the lower end of the price scale in our suburb. I would need to have a go at drawing it oklouise, I have seen your suggestions on other dilemmas and wow! My space is pretty tight but just maybe there is something I haven't thought of

I have a separate guest toilet without windows using a ceiling extractor fan - not a problem. I also have internal cavity sliding doors to bathrooms and toilets and love how they give extra space and options regarding placement of items. Another location alternative for you may be between the cinema room and the kitchen, depending on what you had planned for that extra space in the kitchen. Two metres is a wide hallway, if that is what it is? Ours is 1.3 which is considered wide (as we need to accommodate a wheelchair which has to turn into doorways). An advantage of a very wide hallway is it gives room for extra furniture placement such as bookshelves, linen or other cupboards if needed. I don't see a linen cupboard or pantry cupboard in your plans. Something else to think about is future proofing - try to cover future possibilities with regard to function, as making structural or fittings changes later can be more expensive, and may come at a time when you can least afford it (e.g. injured, disabled, children, aging or other such people visiting your home). Lives change, sometimes over time, sometimes in an instant, and suddenly the doors are not wide enough (especially the toilet door!), or the walls are not strong enough for a weight-bearing rail, and a host of other things. We put 900cm doors as a minimum and it makes life a lot easier, including moving furniture in and out. Universal Design principles are worth a look. Sadly these considerations are currently considered special or optional, although there are moves to change that, so that builders and architects will consider these things as standard.