From the photos you have provided, it looks like your kitchen space is quite cosy. To accommodate a island bench you mentioned before we would suggest a corner kitchen, keeping your pantry within the corner however making it built in with your cabinetry in the photo posted below. (Photo a idea for cabinet layout, different materials and style in accordance with your design). To make you design flow, next to your corner pantry we would suggest your appliances are built in to the cabinetry with the fridge against the far right wall. This would then provide a whole bench top with overhead cabinetry which could feature a splash back to your liking that would blend with your terracotta tiles. Within the island bench we would suggest you have your sink and a integrated dishwasher to maximise space within the kitchen when cooking. This may not fit in with your budget, however if you would like a free quote to provide a estimate of cost please feel free to call us on 03 423 9067, if you would like to see some of out work feel free to visit out profile on Houzz. We hope this helps :) Example of layout with in built corner pantry. Example of overhead cabinetry with tiled detail to match terracotta features you mentioned. Island bench example, make one side functional with integrated dishwasher and bins with sink, and the other a dining option to merge with the kitchen, however this would depend on measurements within your kitchen space.

Hi siriuskey, it's actually quite a big house, just awkwardly laid out. There are two other bathrooms - a main bathroom and an ensuite - and the laundry will just be a stacked washer and dryer, so not much space required. Yes, I think one door is a better option for the layout too. The house is on a very good sized corner block. The dining room side is open to a car parking deck, no roof. There is a flowering hedge between the dining room window and the car park area so visually it's private and allows good sunlight. Off the family room is a large covered patio plus lawn and trees, and a large shed that will be turned into a home office. Adjacent to the dining room is a bedroom and past that (so the opposite side of the house to the dining room and car park area), is the neighbouring fence. So there is only a narrow walkway between the house and the fence.

Kate: - I like the idea of a door at both ends of the new central bedroom doorway - maybe some kind of thin sliding door or a foldable shutter door might be best? - house can’t be knocked down/rebuilt due to location in a heritage conservation area OkLouise: - thanks again for doing this - I’ve loved all of your updates, they are so well thought out and hope to incorporate them all into the build - will send you a token of appreciation when the build is finished! - we have already been thinking about whether to rotate the kitchen island 90 degrees as you have drawn - i think it might look weird? but i’m not sure - theres a lot for us to process with your new updates so we'll need to spend some time thinking about them! - i’m resistant to reducing the size of study 2 as that’s the most important room for me as i will spend a lot of time there and it is doubling as a work productivity office/man cave so really want that room to be fantastic! - i thought the laundry chute was above the laundry but will need to ask the architect Siriuskey - I also think there may be too many bathrooms in the house - due to the good location of the property i think it is hard (within reason) to overcapitalise on the property so believe it will grow well in value in the long run so would rather overdo it than underdo it - FWIW the other houses in the street/adjacent streets are kind of similar to our proposed plan so its not out of keeping with the area - am still wondering about combining the downstairs powder room/adjacent en suite into one big bathroom for a bath - variable number of family members staying but 4 to 11 over 3 generations at various times of the year - the plan for the mudroom is for it to be the entrance into the house that we use most so it can also act as a cloak room too so that’s why its not near the laundry - i don’t want a lift in the house as it seems unnecessary for our needs and fi we ever ended up in a situation where we needed a lift we would just sell and downsize Dreamer: - i think we (parents) might end up living downstairs when the kids get older/noisier - they are in primary school currently Pleased to Bijou design - point taken about number of bathrooms - i don’t really have a good answer Paul Di Stafano & Dr Retro - i can sense and empathise with your professional frustrations :) - thanks for the good luck wishes, I agree we’ll need it - fortunately I’m a lifelong/relentless optimist and things always seem to work out ok in the end (and if they don’t, I’ll take it as a positive learning experience) - thanks for the insights into dodgy busy practice business models mummagabz - thanks for comment about small robes - will look into making them larger

Sorry didn’t realize missed the beam part of the question. My apologies, load bearing walls that we would be moving in our renovation would be only 2 load bearing walls - one on the master bedroom for fitting in en-suite. We would be taking some space from both bedroom (BIR and second bedroom) Second on the bath area in the center of the house, to make it open space. Rest all load bearing walls would not moved during renovation. Sorry please advise if u need any further information thank u Thank you.