You're welcome! Roof/city scapes are like landscapes, but the views are of roofs not plants. Google roofscapes images and you'll get the idea : ) And if you're not bothered by the roof next door then I'm not bothered by the roof next door! I'm sad to say though that your metal outside stairs idea will likely not get approval from your local Council. I say that approval is unlikely because that roof next door seems very close, so I imagine the setback of your house (and theirs) is likely as close as Council will let you get. In other words, no building of any structure such as stairs would be allowed in the space that's there now. But never say never...give their planning department a call or submit an enquiry online and just run the plan past them. Maybe instead of stairs you actually mean a Juliet balcony? (google it!) Even that plus the type of window it's attached to is subject to Council approval so again, you would need to contact them. Plants on a Juliet balcony would indeed be very charming but I'm not sure how realistic this option is. So all that being said, I'm still going for my roofscape/cityscape option to better incorporate next door's roof. Roofscapes can include trees too you know!

Oh wow you have been busy! It's funny, I was at my Mum's today and we were discussing your plans. We decided the bunk room was a bit small and she suggested moving it back like you have done. Agree the fireplace will be be better on the western wall, with flow from the kitchen to the backyard with large doors. I'm torn about whether the changes to make the mudroom bigger are changing too much what I loved about the previous iteration, i.e. the void and the toilet placement. Although my hubbie wasn't sure about the toilet where it was previously as he was worried sound would carry into the lounge I never thought of that to be honest and really liked how it entered from under the stairs ‍♀️ No views to the south so no need for the window seat, would prefer the void I think and no need for bath downstairs. Which version do you think works better? Perhaps the mudroom was big enough? I did like the extra room off it for storage etc Thanks so much for the renders, I'm a bit concerned that it now doesn't look like my original picture. I'm really trying to keep the look as American as possible with the pitch of the veranda and the pitch of the roof. This style has been my dream and is really so much a part of my vision. I don't want something that looks similar to other houses. Sorry if this seems silly. My builder did mention about the gas bottles and how they need to see their truck. Good idea between the carports. I wonder if it's cost prohibitive to have them buried at the front? Can I ask what the total sqm is for both upstairs and down?

"As long as there is sufficient air flow for your unit it will function well", And there in lies the problem. According to that photo the OP does not have enough clearance on the porch to make an enclosure large enough to allow sufficient air flow. Even if they did enclosing the unit allows for re circulation of air that has already had it's temperature raised to cool the condenser coil. If the coils are not cooled properly the unit can't dissipate heat trapped in the refrigerant. This lowers efficiency and can damage components "it protects the unit, adds easy access for maintenance" Protects the unit from what? It is designed to be outside. Sun, wind rain snow bugs etc were all taken into consideration when these machines are designed. I never said operating costs would be unreasonable, I said efficiency would be lowered. Unless you are out there with a set of manifold gauges and are measuring performance, you have no clue how that unit is performing. Reasonable operating costs can only be quantified by the person paying the invoice. If you earn a six figure salary $1000 a month for electricity may seem "reasonable" If you earn $30k a year, not so much. . At the end of the day it's not my equipment they can do what ever they like. They can let the system breathe like it was designed to do, be cool when they want/need to be and live with the ugly box on their porch. Or they can take bad advice, risk damaging their unit, have expensive repair or replacement costs just so it can be cute. Choice is theirs.

Gorgeous brick pavers, I love that look for the floor! It has a rustic appearance yet you're right- sophisticated, even an elegance. I think this would suit the feeling I'm wanting for the room, the pine boards have a rustic appearance, this would go well with them. We have a 1m square oak table with cross back chairs for the dining section and a La Spezia 3 light pendant (Beacon), farmhouse sink, timber hood cover to give you an idea of the look we're going for. Thanks very much for your thoughts on this. I like the idea you're going with, but yes, we have the window and door in already. Door could be trimmed if necessary. It wasn't until the window was already made and the wall sheets and cladding was removed that we realised the original kitchen layout had the back door next to the window, and the door into the laundry section was a modification. I most likely would have put it back where it was originally or had double doors. It made no logical sense for the back door to be a thoroughfare through the laundry, eliminating valuable storage space. I may have just left the kitchen in the original layout and made an entry into the laundry from the kitchen side for a laundry/butler's pantry with fridge in there. Removed the side window for more wall space for storage and changed the existing door to a window. But it's too late now, the outside of the house has all been newly clad so doors and windows are as is. There's no other possible place in the house for a laundry. It is a very tight space. Plan to build an external laundry studio in the future. The one in the house would be temporary, yet need it to accommodate a washer dryer combo for now, and be suitable for prospective buyers/renters in future if the external laundry doesn't eventuate. This is the original 1960's floor plan. A previous owner made internal access into the laundry and made bench space where the original back door was, the next owners opened up the living to dining room and blocked up the hallway doorway which became the fridge space. The cornice didn't match up in the hallway though where the old doorway was. They had made a shelf from the cut out on the hallway side, and the protruding section in the kitchen side became a kind of bulkhead for the fridge. Old hallway We've rebuilt this so that it could have an upper cabinet on the kitchen side/ hallway later if needed. But the lack of space in the hallway didn't allow us to build a linen cupboard, so that will also be needed to be included somewhere in the house. At this stage, thinking we will have to configure the laundry space to have a linen cupboard/ broom cupboard between the dining room and laundry section. Open to ideas too for storage in that limited laundry area space. I'll add more measurements to the floor plan for reference.