I'd like the space you have Jodes, especially the pantry (envious), but am a little concerned at having the media room easily accessed via "mud" room, and being adjacent to the main bedroom... all that "mud", and noise from teenagers??? My other concern is width of the passage - will furniture damage the walls in manoeuvering into bedrooms? I'd perhaps consider incorporating the laundry space and function into the second bathroom (houzz has lots of pics) and eliminating the "mud room". The extra space is preferable for a free-standing bath, but that said, it depends on family set-up. If the bath's for children go for something easily cleaned, if for yourself, maybe re-design the ensuite. All the best!

And to answer your question siriuskey. Yes the front room has been opened out into a verendah. This room got really hot in summer so wasn’t working as another living space. We’re restricted to what we can change at the front of the house as we are in a heritage area. We can make changes without a DA if we don’t change the front of the house. Agree we can change a lot with a wooden house, but I think we’ll be restricted on reusing windows. All our casement windows are original glass from the 1930s so won’t be to modern building code. If we move them, they’re gone. However replacing with modern glass would bring more light into the home. We’ve put fans in all rooms and always have the French doors open in bed 2 so light and ventilation haven’t been an issue. Might become so if we put a moody teenager in there though!

Hey Larkspur, thanks for the great response! Actually, you are correct, according to the building inspection: "The original section of the dwelling is constructed upon a strip "edge beam" concrete footing system incorporating a suspended timber frame (bearer and joist flooring system) with the newer addition/s constructed upon a concrete slab footing system." That original edge beam has had a damp course put in along one side of the building, just FYI. I actually have trouble telling where the original section ends. The floorboards extend into the 'dining' area (hardly a dining area - you might fit a small table with 4 chairs in there). However, the rear of the bath area towards the courtyard is sided with that same weatherboard type material that's on the extension. I suspect they may have rebuilt the exterior of the bath and laundry area but that it was the original profile of the house. Regarding the fibre cement. My inspector noted there was a chance such material contained asbestos. But the building approvals attached to the Form 1 were given in the very late 80s / early 90s. As far as I am aware, they stopped making that material in the early 80s so I am hopeful we missed that. There is, however, a small amount of confirmed asbestos backing in the power meter box for example. As you saw. I am a huge bath fan and would definitely put one in. I have a soft spot for the cedar wood japanese baths but I suspect that's a pretty niche taste and wouldn't add as much value for future owners as much as me haha. The bathroom, even in it's current envelope, has heaps of spare room. The northern light actually enters the 'bottom' of the layout - e.g. the verandah / lounge / spare bed side. However, we get a fair bit of light in from all those windows in the breezeway. There is a very odd step down between the dining room and the are marked as living. As in, you jump off the floorboards onto tiling in the living area. As you get to the rear of the extenion, you actually step back up again. Not sure why they did that. The courtyard is level with the lower dining area. If I had a vision of a great kitchen, it'd be one with a bar running along that wall where the laundry meets the dining area. Maybe that bar would run along the windows to the courtyard too, forming an L shape. And a very functional, big cooking and prep area with a window to the courtyard. So, someone cooking could chat to their buddies and hand them a plate over the kitchen counter, or through a window potentially. The first house we really loved had a huge walk in pantry, triple insulated. That'd be awesome too but not sure if we would have room for it! Style is up in the air. We need to live in a bit longer to figure that one out. It already has a nice warm feel and I think we would try and keep that.

i would expect to pay $30,000 - $40,000 with very basic fixtures, fittings and tiles for a modest bathroom laundry reno (are there any extra costs for asbestos removal?).. it would be interesting to know prices allowed for each item so that you can make sure that you get what you prefer.. keep in mind that labour is usually not much different for cheap or expensive tiles but what price per sqm has been allowed and how many metres of tiles?...does full height wall tiling in bathroom mean on all four walls.. or would you be happy with eg 2m? height tiles in the shower and a small splashbck around the bath and vanity..ie less tiles could save dozens of sqm of tiles plus tiling labour and you may like to see a few different baths and vanities to see what feels comfortable (ie twin sinks may not be suitable for the size of the space as shown) and a built in bath is more expensive to install than a cheap free standing bath but some free standing baths need more space to look good (see back to wall corner baths) and i doubt the builder has allowed for wall mirrors but you might find a build in wall cabinet provides better storage for toiletries and the vanity could then have more space for towels but the wall cabinet will cost more