How committed are you to this floor plan? The bedrooms are a long way from the bathroom and everyone will have to walk through your lounge room to use it. I also like my kitchen to look over the yard, so that I can see the kids playing. I don't think you need a bath in the ensuite, but you do want it to feel spacious. Of the three I like the one with the alfresco area.

I can't see the images but separate bathrooms would be my preference. A simply larger ensuite is fine but you still have to fill the room with stuff. When my wife and I first lived together it was a two bedroom, 2.5 bath. The closets were small so I just took the 2nd bedroom and also made the ajoining bathroom, mine. It was the best. No staggering of waking up to take turns, and we all poop! But at least it's not in each others face. Over the years, function over style will win hands down. I don't know the size of your closet(s) but expanding that (even a his and hers) would also go along way. The alfresco could be nice but only if you have great weather year-round. If you have a porch / deck / etc, then there's no need. You still need to go to the kitchen to get your coffee / wine / drink. It's not practical.

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in replying! So many thoughtful suggestions, thank you. I haven't yet got around to taping out the kitchen, boundsgreener, but I hope too soon. Even just pacing it out has made me realise you're all right, there's no way a G shape will work. The space at the sink surrounded by the benches would be less than one metre. So that's good to realise now! I can't do banquet seating as there's a window behind the table. The wall behind the buffet unit is structural so we can't remove it (and I'd imagine it might get expensive too!) So what I'm thinking now is more a revamp/update with the current layout, but still moving the fridge across and creating a pantry, plus an appliances garage (love that term!) in the corner. Oven, sink and dishwasher in the same spots. This will still give more room for dining as the fridge won't be taking up space on that side of the kitchen. I'm now worried about losing the bench space that the buffet unit gives us, though. It was going to be offset by the extra G shape, but as that's gone and there won't be any room for the buffet (though I'd love to keep it as an island on wheels, hazzaran!) there will be less bench space than before. I like the idea about a wooden benchtop to save money, Pazz, but is it practical? Won't it get lots of bacteria in it? I'd still love some natural stone in there somewhere, and was thinking of those beautiful hexagon marble tiles they have on the Block. That might be cheaper than a caesarstone benchtop! I am not a big fan of laminate, though, for some reason it always really looks really plasticy to me. Thanks again for all your great advice and for helping avert a layout disaster! I really appreciate all the advice.

Thanks for the good ideas. Val - yes we are planning a moveable island/table - didn't put it in the diagram as we are planning to get it after the reno but perhaps should have it there to give better picture of our plan. We are thinking a timber topped bar style table, 900 high, 1200 long and 800 wide. It'll be dual purpose - flush with benchtops for extra prep space, and a snug table for 4 (on bar chairs). Louie and Kate - thanks for the fridge tip. I was playing with this and preferred the look of the fridge inside which seemed more 'built in', but can see the point about a slight blocking of the pantry with its greater depth. One related question - if the fridge was on the outside, do you think an end panel (as in Louie's pic) is essential? With every mm literally counting, it would help save 16mm or so to not have this, but would it be an issue to have the side of the fridge exposed? Kate - re micro height, it's another good point. We chucked our current micro and were waiting to reno to replace...and have found that we hardly miss it. So we aren't even sure we need one, but thought a compromise was to have the shelving about 650 above the benchtop to allow for micro but not effect benchtop space. This would be at a similar height to ones that people sometimes have over cooktops. But agree that it would be a bit impractical for regular use of the microwave. Perhaps it's worth lowering at least 100-150mm? One final question - perhaps should be separate post. What is the thinking on minimum width next to cooktop? Of course ideally you would have 400 or 500 or more.....but in our small space, we have a reasonable space to the right of the cooktop, but only 200mm to the left. Then again have seen kitchens, especially with freestanding stoves, that have no space on one side (ie cooktop at end). In some ways this would be better for us as we could have 800 wide drawers, rather than 600 wide, then oven, then 200 wide mini drawers.....but thought it might be better to have the small 200 benchtop space on the other side of cooktop than none at all. Thoughts? Thanks again for the good ideas!