Hi I am really interested in this discussion for similar reasons. Currently our plans squeeze in a pantry under the stairs so 1.5 m X 1 m. Builder suggests we shrink ensuite from 3350 x 1650 to 2350 x1650 long so it becomes a proper walk in pantry 2m x1.5 m. I was concerned I will end up with two nonfunctional spaces. But it sounds like the pantry will work. What are everyone's opinion on a master ensuite size. It means I'll have a single basin vanity only 500 m wide

understanding all your restrictions would help suggest other options but the original staircase uses too much space and if you add scaled sized furniture to the original plans you'll see that the meals area is mostly taken up with walkways to the stairs and back door and there's very little space left for a dining table..the stairs have to fit both the floors of the house and it's not possible to reduce staircase space upstairs without also changing downstairs

You could try Wet & Forget on the driveway. You can buy it ready to use and attach it to a hose or buy a bottle that you dilute to use in a sprayer. I have used it and it works - slower than water blasting but it won’t damage driveway if it has some damage? I can’t quite tell from photo if that’s grass clippings/mulch or broken concrete on driveway? If you use it be careful not to spray garden bed. I live in FNQ and we planted seaside daisy - doesn’t need watering but it also won’t die from our wet season. It’s a ground over and spreads out beautifully in a courtyard area that’s get a lot of sun. Just needs a trim from time to time. I see you have Rio (purple green ground cover) which you could separate and plant down the path but it does like water. Maybe for the fence you could try attaching lattice to it and plant another passion fruit vine to help cover the whole fence. It does look like you need to get rid of some woody parts of the passion fruit. It’s a tough plant and will enjoy a bit of pruning. We had one that I thought had died last year and it has returned with no help from me. Be careful with the heliconias and gingers ... they can get out of control if you don’t stay on top of them. Anything tall will cover your fence but it will also cover the passionfruit vine which obviously loves the spot it’s in. Good luck!

Thanks @dreamer. I took your advice because it makes sense (I'll post a photo of our new plan) I think it's lovely that you and your husband still do dishes together, I quite enjoy doing the dishes actually, but not when my toddler is stuck on my leg. Dishwasher will probably used when we have guests over. It's actually my husband who was sold on the idea of butler's pantry but I couldn't justify it and see the point that's why I posted on here to hopefully see from other's perspective so thank you. We are a young family so always taking the kids into consideration when planning the house. We also entertain a lot, Filipino buffet style, so an island will be perfect! I sew a lot and need a big space for cutting fabric as well that's also why we wanted to keep the island without the sink. We plan to put a barn door as pantry door but we might do that later on after we have moved in and see how it goes or we might even leave it without a door but we will make sure they put in extra support in those walls for possible barn door. We abandoned the idea of window inside the pantry because I figured it will let a lot of sunlight especially it's facing north east and not good for food storage obviously. The only dilemma I have now is whereto place our microwave and deep shelving solutions for the pantry but we're pretty happy with this now. Thank you all