My favorite spot to hide myself and get some moment of peace is my balcony. I get cut off from the members around and lock me in balcony seat on my arm chair and relieve myself from the extra burden, or tensed situation. Come alive in an hr or 2 and get mixed with the people around.

On the surface this subject raises quaint images of flowering vine-adorned little granny flats and harmonious extended families 'taking tea' together on the patio surrounded by grandchildren and laughter, visiting care-givers helping the elderly live at home with family, receiving visits from Caregiver services...everyone smiling...but wait, there's more. At a certain stage along the planning process a percentage of us fall foul of the expectations, hopes and idealistic scenarios and maybe, for some, that is because of religious upbringings..."honour they father and thy mother" etc. adding guilt to the already difficult decisions. Housing our elderlies is not an easy topic to bring up for discussion in public because there is no "one way" to address and resolve this issue. I felt that HOUZZ, was a good place to have a discussion about an otherwise difficult and emotional subject that many would be reluctant to approach. On deciding to tell a bit of my own experience I felt that it would open up an opportunity for others battling with the complexities of this problem. So, congrats to all the Houzzers who've had a go at telling their stories here and making the rest of us feel that we are not alone having to deal with this life-situation. Taking care of our elderlies is about much more than building them a comfy granny flat or putting on extentions to our own homes and its not about applying a "One size fits most" solution...( Would that it were all that easy!) I found that my religious upbringing, coupled with unhappy experiences had with my parent made my final decision ever so much more difficult despite that certain 'rules' no longer applied in my own life....or I thought they did not! I discovered that the religious expectations put on me in my childhood coupled with those of friends and family members had reared their heads from the distant past to make my decisions more difficult. I discovered the power of guilt! Mum did not practise her faith but the rules about children and parents were convenient, those indisputable, fearsome rules to enforce compliance and obedience...or else.... I will never forget the day she quoted her favourite "honour thy father and thy mother" at me just once too often after she'd exacted very severe discipline: : I'd found my indignation at being treated unfairly and, through my bloodied handkerchief I screamed : -"What if thy father and thy mother are not honourable ?" There was no answer to that question, no hour long lecture to reinforce the point. Again I paid dearly for my retort. This example to illustrate that domineering parents can be very cruel when they call to bear witness to their demnds any rationale that they have inculcated in their children from a religious perspective and a socio/ cultural perspective So - pondering on wheher we would house our elderlies ( probably meant to call for accomodation suggestions and financial solutions here on HOUZZ) for me, and maybe for others. brought out a dilemma I did not know was there...Obligation irrespectively and Guilt.....they are your parents no matter what. Maybe today I would have guarded more jealously the life I'd won for myself.

I think it should fit, width of bath 800 plus 900 for shower approx, you would most likely end up with shorter vanity, I will draw it for you after I post my updated plan. I have run the island to the wall to give you a better length island, the door could be louvered windows as well, full height like others 2400 and glass. No corner cupboards in thei kitchen!!

depending on the size of the room and accurate location of existing doors and windows everything is out of proportion and all the concepts are hard to understand because we don't know the correct sizes ... the baths only look about 1200mm long, or the showers are oversized compared to the other fittings and look too small for a standard towel and what is the size of the storage and what can be stored in it....you need to collect a examples of proper sized fixtures eg a bath could be from about 1500 to 1800 long and 750 wide plus enough space to clean around a freestanding bath, most toilets need about 800 x 800 space to allow for elbow and knee room but there's lots of different sized toilets for different situations, showers need to be about 900 deep and say 900 to 1800 long but depends on available space and do you want a walk in shower with or without a glass screen or a shower cubicle or wet room or Japanese style ...dimensions are easily found on any manufaturers websites but allways start with accurate dimensions of the existing space and try again