Lovely colours ect. But my question is why is we read article after article on kitchen designs with advice from designers stating never to put a dishwasher in a corner as it is not practical. Articles always state that it should never block access to another cupboard and if possible access from both sides. First thing I noticed in the picture was the dishwasher. As an owner I would not be happy with this design by a professional. But this is just my opinion

You’re right in that it’s quite skinny now. The floor plan I uploaded is actually the original, since then whoever renovated removed the return on the bench and added an island instead. I’ve uploaded a photo of that below (don’t mind the mess :)). We’re struggling to envision how we can modernise the space without shoe horning something in that isn’t quite right, i.e. I’d really love a big island beach but can’t see how we can achieve that without moving the structural wall. As with most families, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen - it’s the busiest part of the house so we’d like it to be modern but also functional with plenty of space for the kids. We see the lounge room as more of a serene, quiet space for us to relax at the end of the day when the kids are in bed. I’ve included more photos of how we currently have the place set up. We’re also going to replace all flooring with vinyl planks (kids and inside dogs don’t mix well with real timber floors).

That’s pretty much the height we were looking at going for so it’s an obvious step up and matches with the front door height. Good point about the front door we will probably install new crimsafe so you won’t be able to see any of the wood at all. Yes landscaping is the biggest thing we need but we are so clueless we just shoved plants in but it clearly didn’t work lol We will be planting along the driveway and putting in lights along it as well and there is a (very messy) hedge hiding the concrete in front of the door- which looks even worse right now because there’s marks from the hail. Our biggest problem is we live on rock and it’s such a steep incline so everything we plant grows weird or not at all I would love a beautiful lush front garden:( Is there anything we can do to the concrete to make it look nicer? If it’s painted with some kind of textured paint would that be too slippery?

I’m sure you can convert that space. Just need plumbing and electricity. You will have to get used to walking outside to laundry in all weather. personally I would of left the laundry as part of the bathroom. But I never use a bath.... The way I sort all my colours on the floor of the laundry, and sheets and towels, an outside set up would never work for me. But if it works for you, that is good.