Miranda You appear to be making all the right choices in life. I will be a little bit presumptuous by offering some advice on helping you to raise your child in touch with nature in this age full of all the electronic lures that keep the kids indoors. or, when outdoors, glued to a small screen, rather than the glory that surrounds them. I am writing a book about landscape architecture and have a section regarding the importance of embracing nature in the preschool years. - which I would like to forward that section to you. However, my computer skills are limited to email and US Mail. I don't even know how to attach a picture to the text. If you would like to receive this draft from my future book, send me your email or postal address, and I'll get it right off to you. My email is cascio.offsite@gmail.com Good luck with your new challenges and opportunities. Joe Cascio

@angelasusanm The advice you have given about how to prioritise your approach to creating a home (orientation, budget, family needs and dynamics, then exterior) is AWESOME. It is so great to hear homeowners understanding that the investment in design is worthwhile - I believe it is where your home is made ... where it can realise its full potential, or be a handicap and compromise your daily life. It can be hard to be patient ... usually when homeowners actually hit the 'go' button on building or renovating, there has been YEARS of wishing, planning, dreaming and collecting of ideas. So when it finally comes time to put all of that hoping into planning and action, you can be at breaking point. REALLY sick of your existing home, or really excited (or desperate!) to get into a new home, or a bigger renovated home, or a home with more modern spaces and conveniences, or the area you actually want to live in ... the list goes on. So it's understandable that homeowners can want to race through the design process - or choose a plan from a catalogue that suits their needs for size and function - and just get it built. Whilst lines are on a page though, that is where things are relatively inexpensive. It's where you can explore ideas, make sure you're making the most of your site and your money, and that you're setting yourself up for a home and life that is as great as it can be. Because once you start building, that linework becomes permanent choices you have to live with on a daily basis. It also is difficult to keep an eye on the big picture. Building and renovating may feel like one big decision - but it's actually a series of small decisions. Often you'll make one, which will lead to another, which will lead to another. And if the first decision hasn't been made with the best information, or with the best framework - then every consequential decision can lead you down a rabbit hole and just make matters worse. So, stepping back and remembering what you're seeking to achieve ... which for many people is a family home that is functional, flexible, comfortable and safe (and that doesn't financially stress them) ... is the important helicopter view to get yourself back to when things seem to be frustrating or overwhelming you. Doing this all whilst your home is on paper, is seriously such a great investment of time and energy. - Amelia, UA x www.undercoverarchitect.com.au amelia@undercoverarchitect.com.au

I hope they were helpful Khahn.

Thanks once again oklouise for your comments. I have already been told by the draughtsman that I cannot put in skylights. No idea if this is true but he seemed quite sure and it was he who 'designed' the layout of said ensuite with what I consider a too small window because of ease of plumbing and drainage. He says that can be changed...............Supposedly only put like that to get the oversize plan in fir consent. This department is only interested in the outside view and the effect on the neighbours, which I actually dont have any. The positioning of the ensuite and WiR has changed too from the first plan as I had to come 'out' of my bedroom into a corridor past the WiR door and then into the ensuite. Technically they were both in my bedroom as had not entered the hallway but did not seem like it. So the wall you have now suggested for the door is a small lobby to the bedroom and I had planned to put furniture on it and a full length mirror. I will now look again at the whole space with three zones to see what can be done. I used the word solar tube as I thought that was the generic name for the 'tube' installed which reflected light into a room. Do they cause draughts? Have had no experience of them but will probably want to install one in my scullery (or Butler's kitchen) but am going to work in it a few months before deciding that. I am really quite a novice about function of installations and of building code.