Gorgeous orange! So warming. Maybe paint the exhaust chimney to match. Given the clean design, I wouldn't add more. The only other touch of color could be replacing the white canisters with orange, or another color. I'd also subtract two or three stools. they're good looking but a little crowded.

Hi fb57, Great charming federation house, retain the front and fix the back, then maybe later you can put in a granny flat - depending on cost and local council bylaws. I would not put in an attic - stairs are a good place for mishaps and as we age it might have limited functionality - but if its something you have your heart set on it might prove worth while. It appears that you are competent enough to do a decent measure up plan, going from what you have posted - you might need to take a few photo and a few other dimension to get a good design from someone working online. The idea is to get a design that you are happy with and then get a local competent Drafts-person to do your working drawings for a Building Permit and then get it built with a Builder of your choice. This would result in my opinion in a significant saving and a design of your choice, especially if you are willing to do some of the legwork with council and other authorities. To get a good design that you feel is a solution to your requirements, you need to produce a variety of design schemes (plans elevations perspectives etc.) and this can be done online with any competent Building Designer that you can get along with. It will not take one go at it - and it will not be quick, as you need time to digest every scheme but generally it works out in the long run. These are some of the things I would look at: 1. The possibility of breaking up the build into stages - maybe stage one do the renovations at the back and the stage 2 place in a granny flat. 2. As you have good access on both sides of the property I would place a new garage on the largest width and possible gate and walkway on the other side to give individual access to the granny flat. The new garage would be as closely to the front as possible, with the new fence an gate on the other side it would greatly improve security. 3. Depending on budget I would provide a bathroom shower and toilet with a walk in robe to the main bedroom and redo the kitchen and laundry if required. 4.The area next to the lounge area I would develop into an external entertainment area. 5 Since you mentioned that you have a "Fibro Extension" it implies to me that you may have asbestos on the property - get an expert in and determine if you need to remove asbestos when you renovate - this is a dangerous material and you should take all precautions possible to avoid long term damage. 6. An indication of the position of your neighbors windows and setback might also help in providing a design that complies with your planning laws and respects your adjoining neighbors. Like all things it will take a few revisions to get it right , but if you are willing to work at it, it will payoff in the end. The first thing is to draw up the existing conditions to scale so that an initial proposal showing possibilities can be worked on. I would be willing to work on this project with you online, I hope this is of some help. Regards Michael Manias mm407p@gmail.com

DEIA..yes tactile also if there's a problem I've got someone to go to . I'm old fashion that way.. ie. bought a pair of shoes..no stock in the store so they ordered online for me..it came badly made so I went back to the store to return ..showed my receipt ..no question asked.. or another time bought shoes for son broke apart after 2-3 times went back with my receipt..and got exchanged right away despite I've read online that that company have had a bad reputation with complaints online..I've never encountered face to face.. or saw some colander online looked quite good..went to Sydney to check them out awful quality and well at $10 a pop no go I do buy online ..not sheets more so decorative items that I've seen and can't source in physical shops

We too live in a cold winter climate with our bathrooms all on the southern side and faced similar issues as you do. One smaller bathroom does not have a window so we put in a Velux skylight which provides amazing natural light through the day. This may not be to your liking, especially if you have a period home. We also use heated towel rails and under tile heating (just enough to take the chill off and stop mould) in winter. Although we have a light in the shower recess, a bonus is the large fixed shower head with inbuilt LED, which at night gives the feeling of showering under moonlight. We chose light colours and mirrored recessed cabinets to reflect as much natural light as possible.