If you "change" anything that involves a building approval then the floor area on the plans relevant will count towards the overall amount. If it amounts to beyond 50% of the existing conditions then the whole building becomes applicable to energy calculations and so you enter into up spec'ing existing areas. And yes it can often be a good thing to be doing anyway, but of course it costs money. If the total area being changes is below 50% then only the areas of new work are applicable. I'm honestly not a specialist in this area, but I have to deal with the issues naturally in the course of the design and resolution of project solutions I provide, and hence I use an energy consultant regularly and we have a way/system of working through together how best to achieve the requirements for permit. As far as I understand it's a case by case/project specific exercise and also there's various ways of negotiating/achieving the necessary performance requirements - e.g. you can play around with different levels of insulation together with a particular glazing/window spec, and depending upon circumstances you can save money one way or another. Sometimes I'll squeeze windows overall down to get it under a certain amount to not trigger requirement for expensive glass...also timber windows rate better, but if you are in a bushfire area you'll be caught out or require very expensive timber windows...it's a real juggling act in particular contexts...which is why you really need to be working collaboratively with an energy consultant/specialist to work out the best solution in this regard, as well as the other aspects of design, structure and bushfire etc. It's a true team effort ;) If you're really up for some technical reading you there is some further energy info here NCC Volume One Energy Efficiency Provisions 2016 - Australian ... but it may get confusing........Coming back to the core of it, my advice: 1. define your budget 2. list and prioritise your requirements 3. seek some preliminary advice/assistance from a seasoned designer doing this type of work to test whether or not the general concept of what your endeavouring to achieve is viable, and this depends upon the relevant context/existing conditions etc (and bushfire rating is yet another layer on top of all this), and then refine the concept from there. If you are just doing a bathroom or kitchen isolated then you can arguably do it yourself, but if you're re-jigging the whole house like it appears you are heading towards, and on a very tight budget then I'd highly recommend (to save yourself headaches and frustration going around in never-ending circles) to invest some of your available budget into front-end design, to get to a solution that works to your nominated priorities so you achieve a viable and professionally advised outcome. Trust me it will be money well spent. Have a great Christmas, and best of luck with continuing to work through it all :)

In my early twenties I designed kitchens for my mother and two aunts (Uncle built them and they worked), but when it came to designing my own - had to fit a constrained space and no possibility of extension - I chewed my lips for ages - like Nicole, I drew and measured ad infinitum, and used graph book walls, views etc. I did one extra thing - which I think worked - I listed all that I wanted to store, and tried to analyse how I liked working in the kitchen. Some things I had to settle for because of space (such as a smaller dishwasher) but most of it has worked. We have a corner pantry, which I (and the cat, husband a bit larger) can walk into, but have not put small appliances in there - they sit in a large drawer beneath the main working bench, which also works well. It all looks good to me Nicole and thinking carefully about needs and how things work in advance usually results in something you'll be happy with. Good luck!

for some reason i thought the table top was round? but same principles apply and check out the range of steel available at the hardware stores and IKEA..keeping in mind that if the table top weighs 50kgs and you use 4 legs that each leg only has to hold up about 12.5 kg as long as it's evenly distributed and level...try making a base table with the craftwood and steel legs, paint the craftwood black, make sure the table is level, mount the stone on top of the base...the next question is how tall teh table and the legs should be but something like this leg from Bunnings could work ...leg is 220 tall + height of craftwood and table top?? would make a low coffee table but there are numerous alternative available or check workshop and car suppliers for steel tool storage shelves and boxes

" .....there has to be a better design " - that's why I'd love some input here! The 800mm gap under the box gutter will hold storage, the toilet, the 'european laundry' and the wardrobe for Bedroom 3, so certainly not wasted space. It will address all the storage needs, and will enable the garden-facing side to be quite open. No - pergola timbers are not preexisting - extending new ones from the new roof will be the primary shading device, and can have anything added to them to shade them. The box gutter enables the extension roof to be pitched upwards towards the west, creating a higher ceiling, enabling some kind of opening above the bifolds, to enable hot air to be expelled. Not that my own finances are the business of this discussion, but if I can get to lockup stage with my own cash, I can apply for a bank loan for the fitout. I'm not sure of your own experience OKL, but preliminary quotes for lockup stage were around the ballpark I'd mentioned earlier. I'll upload an updated floorplan soon :-)