Are you able to open up any of the exterior wall? Just for inspiration have a look at this Houzz home https://www.houzz.com/photos/mill-valley-ca-transitional-deck-san-francisco-phvw-vp~207293 in America, I found this one early in my reno search and even though it is not exactly what you describe I love the way they have opened up the space to the outdoors with a contemporary take on rustic I think. Just keep finding inspiration and Houzz is a great source! feel free to browse my idea books too (there's a few) but they are a collection that may help.. get good advice before diving in and planning is SO important. My reno was 15 years in the making ..Whew! I will keep checking in if that's ok with you.

Option 3 also looks the best to me (seems to be the general fave!). Agreeing with the idea of an L shaped sofa that can seat more people, as an option you can also get a bed (fold out sofabed) fitted inside, if you think you will need an extra bed on occasion. For a bunch of living room furniture layout ideas, I've actually created a free PDF with loads of options/images and a kit to cut & paste your own ideas too. https://mailchi.mp/9c071e61583e/awkwardhome-furnitureplan Hope that helps! Best of luck, it is a fabulous large space!

I’d suggest using pieces of plaster, painted in your chosen colours, to see what the colours look like in different rooms and at different times of the day. We were always going for Natural White which ended up having a pink tinge in certain light in our home. Our large back area is east facing (8m of glass stacking doors) with two south facing windows and two large skylights for northern light. Our colour consultant suggested Dulux Snowy Mountains Qtr strength and it is great for our home. Not stark (no blue/grey tinge) but definitely not too warm. We went all the same colour - walls, trims, ceilings - just in different finishes. Modern home with squareset ceilings. White is so hard. Good luck with your choice!

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I assumed my layout would be similar to that of other Californian Bungalows of the same period. It is helpful to learn my layout is reasonably uncommon and I am probably looking for inspiration in the wrong places. It sounds like Dr Retro House Calls and JRED are correct in steering me towards an interior designer. I hadn’t considered that option as I thought I would need a large budget for furniture and décor if going down that path. I’ll give Bigreader’s suggestion a go first and use scaled cut-outs of furniture to play around with furniture placement. If I still need guidance after that, I will look into interior design services. I initially shared your thoughts – Melt in ACT - and was thinking about turning the laundry space into a large bathroom and then moving the laundry to the small bathroom. Ultimately it was going to be too expensive… and seeing as I have young boys who get every item of clothing they wear dirty within 5 minutes of putting it on, it will be a bit of a luxury to have a big laundry. It's an idea I might revisit in the future though. Oklouise, I love all your ideas and suggestions and am really grateful for the time you’ve taken to respond. The floorplan you’ve put together is super helpful. I was bummed about the lack of space for an entry set down area and would have never thought about moving the bedroom door. I will definitely look into that. Good memory siriuskey- I did previously post about this house and I received a couple of good suggestions (including advice from you) around maximising kitchen bench space with a kitchen island and adding a storage wall near the small living spaces. I felt the advice sought in this post is sufficiently different to justify asking a new question about whether there are resources I may not be aware of and if people have ideas about the floor plan as a whole, including spaces I had not previously asked about. I’ve got lots of new ideas and really appreciate everyone taking the time to share their advice. This is a great forum/ community!