Not sure where you are. Assuming you are building in the Southern Hemisphere then the first thing to do is move your garage to the south side of the block and let more rooms of the house enjoy the northerly sun in Winter. Make sure your corridor is wider than standard( imagine two people passing each other comfortably)- maybe an extra 30 cams- you won't regret this. A skylight here that opens to let hot air out in Summer is great. To further save cost, have all wet areas as close together as possible, and if possible,on the south side. A kitchen bench and whatever is on it can suffer enormously with the angles of the sun during the Winter months. Better to put this on the south side and have the family area bask in the warmth when it is cold. Large windows on the north side will ensure plenty of light through to the kitchen. Personally I love the idea of an internal access from the garage directly or as near as possible to the kitchen because I do not want to traipse through other rooms with heavy shopping bags or dirty shoes. Sliding doors to linen cupboards and bedroom wardrobes to save space. Back of house faces West so consider a wider eave to give some relief from the hot Summer sun, which could be shining into your family/dining areas till quite late each day.

We are going to have cesarstone for kitchen island bench Agree with opening from WIR behind bed. We rotate vanities to be in line with robes in WIR - we can change the robe to makeup table & drawers with chair going underneath of its bench. Please see attached sketch. By rotating vanity it looks more spacious and practical ! What is your thoughts siriuskey? Cheers

Hi there Bec, wow so many thoughts and ideas for you, building a new home is a complex job. As annb said she would need to have quick access to children, there's two camps of thinking re this, those like Annb who would prefer the bedrooms together and those that like the separation of the Master suite. If in the bedrooms together camp perhaps swapping the master suite with the media/rumpus, media rooms don't need views and you already have a great kitchen/family alfresco space next to the future pool. Having the master suite with a view to the pool is good for safety reasons as well, the ensuite and family bathrooms could be back to back. The front Media room a great place to escape to for mum and dad. If you're in the camp of liking the master suite separation that's OK as well. The passage way already had a linen cupboard across the end of it and blocking any access not that it makes too much difference approx 1m extra to the kids. As I have all ready suggested that extra wasted passage space would make quite a difference to the small family bathroom. To screen or not to screen, what is wrong with just having a lovely plain colour full height shower curtain, it can be changed over every couple of weeks or just take a bucket of soapy water and dip the curtain into the water and hand wash, it really only gets dirty on the bottom third. Much easier and cheaper than having to wipe down glass shower screens and doors every time someone showers, you don't have to do that with a curtain.. I'am over cookie cutter bathrooms that must have screens, is using a squeegy too much. A big plus for no screens is for when and if someone needs assistance to shower, it can happen to anyone. In our 3 way bathroom from the 80's we have a tiled shower room 1800 x 900 which has a timber pocket door on the 1800 wall with a small opening window on the opposite wall. To the left of these a shower, both the shower area and the floor have a drain installed, it's a fantastic shower room with space for 6'4 sons but not for 2 persons to wash in. Not a showers screen or curtain to be seen. Do include with your plans for a future pool an external toilet and shower. cheers

What performance is more applicable for your climate? Double glazing will perform significantly better than single glazed whatever in regards to heat loss. You can't beat the air gap factor if you're trying to keep avoid heat loss. Yes there are "Low E" single glazed products such as viridian Comfort Plus which depending upon which side of the glass the absorption coating is placed it will perform in different ways, but bear in mind that since it also will reduce heat gain in winter it can actually work against passive solar building performance if not properly applied. In other words, it's not a "cheap" replacement for double glazing. In Victoria, we generally spec standard double glazing and use external controls such as blinds to mitigate heat gain issues in summer. Thermal Performance Specialists such as an Energy Raters understand the technical nitty gritty around this issue the best, and always good to seek their expert advice when applicable.