@Karen Hodge, I hear you!! Sometimes I think the estate agent should carry quite a bit of the blame actually. If they do their job correctly like you see in the adds on TV, they should bring these discrepancies to the attention of the sellers, stand on their morals and say if you can't get it better than this, then you'll have to find someone else to sell your home!! I know you can't make everybody "house proud" but the saying "do unto others" springs to mind. I bet if these same people bought a house not up to scratch, "a current affair" would hear about it but they don't think it wrong to simply walk out on a house that isn't being left nicely for the next family!! I have some friends that recently sold a house in Essendon, Melb and whilst the buyers were back and forth selling their own home, my friends kept watering the plants and even did things like painted out the wardrobes because of the scuff marks made over time!! They cleaned the entire two storey house from top to bottom and finished by mopping the floors as they were exiting. The buyers were so taken by the entire home, they bought it with almost all the furniture that my friends had in it!!

I hated the wasted space of a laundry so much, we opted to put the washing machine in the bathroom. Washing is sorted and folded in the family room, whilst watching TV. Makes the task less dull and from there it can go to the correct side of the house, as the family room is the hub. Ironing is done in front of the TV, where necessary, although the clean washing is removed to each person's room first. Each person does their own ironing as they prefer. I stopped doing it for everybody years ago. If the can cook and clean, they can iron. Linen has specified storage centrally. Each bathroom has storage for towels etc. It was designed around how we like to live, when we built.

Hi charlie_com: would love to see more as your house plans develop. We bought a house in The Gap last year. So hi, neighbour! We are currently working on plans for short term and long term renovations. I came across your post when searching for advice about whether it would be a big issue if laundry doesn't have direct external access. I agree with others who have mentioned the condenser dryer: our laundry is currently not internal and concealed, but we bought one soon after we moved in (a Bosch heat pump/condenser dryer) and are really happy with the investment as it reduces moisture in the laundry area and is much more energy efficient. I must admit to using it a lot now, because of the energy efficiency, and it being so much easier to stay on top of the laundry. The Styling Edge's photo of concealed laundry set up reminded me of a house where I first saw this set up being sold in Ashgrove several years ago. It was very nicely renovated, and part of the fairly open plan living, dining and kitchen zone, leading to the back deck and then back yard. I remember thinking it would be handy to have a laundry that was so close to living areas and bedrooms and not be separated from the main living. The house had no trouble selling, so it certainly didn't seem to be a deal breaker for buyers. I think it could be more problematic if there was a long, windy route through or around the house, to get to a clothes line. And by the way, I did check out your other posts to see if there was more progress on your house, and spotted the mention of not having a rug for 10 years due to inability to decide, and had a bit of a chuckle: that sounds so much like me.

Hi Siri, appreciate your time in changing the layout but I still prefer my current one. although I'm happy to resize things but not move around. I made a mock-up last night but not sure if the changes i made will still fit. I've convert the linen to WIL although not sure if the modification i made is enough. I'll send this through to my builder. Thanks M.B. for your valuable input. I also do handwashing but my concerns: on placing the sink are 1. I have to do undermount sink to look good but then I need a drying rack beside it. so logically the the normal sink is better functionally but no pleasing to the eye :). 2. Wife doesn't want a mess in the island bench. also, she wants to utilize the whole thing when we host parties (food in the bench). 3. I prefer facing the window to see my garden/landscape while washing. And if we decided to use the DW, atleast, it's all there 4. Normal double sink and DW will come together in the butler. once the plates are dried up, we can store them in the cabinet?