Very well written, I think it will help a lot of people. Yes, factor in a lot of broken drill bits with renovating old hardwood! Even the concrete stumps were harder.

Hi there - a few things stand out to me... yes keep bedroom sizes no less than 3000mm wide, offset the door to the laundry so you can't see the toilet from the front door - yuk! Minimise/simplify number of piers by turning front porch 90º. Keep the footprint as simple as possible. With oklouise's plan, which i think makes more sense, cut 300mm into each of the bedrooms and push out towards the left into the deck. Much better use of space. If west is to the left put a whole wall of cupboards along in bed 1 and get rid of the others, and add door out to deck on the (new) north wall. Do you really need a bath? Living in country they are wasteful of water even if it goes back onto your land. Alternatively have a combined shower/bath? Babies and toddlers wash quite well in the laundry tub then learn to shower with you or on their own quite happily. I'd make the shower a big bigger (and the cupboard on the hall side) and get rid of the bath. Make sure you have excellent insulation in walls, ceiling and under floor. Consider hebel panels as flooring (also, the reinforced ones span great distances) and walls for both fire safety and insulation value. If possible look for ramp potential in case of disability and also for getting furniture into house. If you're in a fire zone make sure all windows and doors comply with your zone rating. And if you are building high up on piers make the external cladding is something that never needs painting and is minimal maintenance.

Hi oklouise, Below is an image of how the houses should fit together. I have included rough measurements for sons house. Shared garage 6x6sq m - shared laundry sewing/ utility/mud room 6x3.3sq m - media room 5x3.8sq m - entry 1.5x3.3sq m - office 2.5x3.5 sq m - bed 4 3x3.5 sq m - bed 3 3x3.5 sq m - main 4x4.5 sq m - wir 4x1.8 sq m - ensuite 4x2.8sq m - bed 4 3x5.4 has linen c/board in hall way - bathroom 2x3.5 sqm - toilet and 1 vanity 2.7x1.7 extends into family rm - family rm 5x5.2 sq m - dining 5.3x3.4 sq m - kitchen 4x2.8 sq m - b/pantry 1.3x2.8 sq m - island 3x.9 sq m - hall 1mtr wide - outdoor 3.5x4.7 sq m may change - front porch 3.5x1.8 sq m - pool behind family area maybe. I will put measurements for my pantry and vac on tomorrow morning. This image might look slightly different to his latest plan which I uploaded earlier he has altered a few things overall still same footprint. I'm pretty new to anything to do with designing house plans so thanks for all of the suggestions and plans so far. I definitely like the way you have narrow shelves for storage in your pantry. but

Love dreamers idea of the large planters, I love large bowls either as a water feature or planted with succulents, I wouldn’t plant underneath as you want the bowl to be the feature, I think a water feature surrounded by feature rocks would look beautiful on your larger garden bed , or even a piece of art would look fabulous, then plant up the smaller bed with an interesting look with succulents, all very hardy .