Hi CH, Well it is certainly a classic old plan of the 30s or 40s , its a bit hard to tell whether its a Californian bungalow, or some other period. Posting a couple of pictures would be good. Also if you could make some reference to where the title lines are and the adjoining neighbors relationship to the site would help. Reference to any planning regulations or heritage laws might also significant in any planning decision. The kitchen seems to be a relatively new design, is it worth retaining, or is it marked for renovation? The condition of the other wet areas is also unknown - it might help to know, the number of occupants and their interests would also help to define the design proposal further or are you designing for resale? 1. The first thing that I would look at is the entry, side entries to my understanding have the greatest number of break-ins, if possible it is always best to place the entry to the front so that it can be seen from the street. Depending on the front elevation and any "local Planning issues" I think this is an achievable option depending on your likes/dislikes. 2. Bedroom 1 would really need a bathroom and maybe some walk in robes, these could be added as part of an extension. 3. If the entry was located at the front it would allow to bring a garage or carport next to the living and dining area, helping to improve security by using a roller door or similar to provide a secure entry to the new garage. 4 The north facing area next to the open area would become and "alfresco area maybe with an outside kitchen/BBQ area, this is a well located area of good size for external entertaining. 5. Landscaping and fences would also determine the look of the house and the "curb appeal" That's is where I would start the first design discovery, then after three or four revisions it might all be a bit clearer and a lot different than the first design ideas. I It generally takes a bit of design effort, and a bit of money to find a solution that is acceptable to most stakeholders - most of the times its worth it in the long run. I do think that your approach is the correct one - its cheaper to change drawings that move walls - getting a good design solution is the key. I would be happy to continue helping you on this project. Hoping this is of some benefit Regards Michael Manias mm407p@gmail.com

The good kind of mad! (Most) old houses ooze character, warmth and heart as much as new ones do chemicals and cheap fittings. I am a housebody, and love being in my house - I spend my money on it, instead of out clubbing and yes, there are always unexpected costs (new hot water service, leaking toilet...), but if you were renting you would have nothing of your own at the end anyway. Three years ago I bought my first house, a fairly original sandstone 98 year old lady in need of some TLC. No builder's reports in this little town, but then she cost me less than a landcruiser... Things I planned to do, but took forever because of rusting nails, old sizing, old quality workmanship include painting the whole thing, top to bottom, pulling up axminster carpet and getting the floors polished, putting fans and air conditioning in. Things I was hoping to avoid for a few more years but can't, include replacing the original roof, swapping the three-cupboard sleepout kitchen with a bedroom, redoing the bathroom, complete with new plumbing and actual drainage to the septic pit (which I had to have fixed a bit), and then I think the best option for the back room and laundry is just to rebuild them....But I don't regret this house, or the journey it's taken me on. Even if it has turned out to be a much more expensive journey than I thought! With time and google, you can do a lot yourself. Before I moved back three years ago I had always been n provided accommodation, so had never used a drill and only changed a couple of light globes, but now... I took a chimney and fireplace down on my own, then re-pointed the stone and put in a ceiling panel to close it up. I have painted, put up shelves, taken down cupboards that were built into walls, patched cracks, filled gaps, pried off skirting boards, and generally turned it into a home. For the more major stuff, like putting a doorway through a foot thick stone wall and rewiring an original bedroom to house a modern kitchen, I am getting the professionals in. good luck!

I'm going to take a wild guess this was built in the 80's , and originally had carpet ( probably the same cream as the stairs ) in the lounge and probably the dining area . It seems like 2 or 3 people have had goes at doing 'stuff' , and it's now just a mix and clash of designs . The wall colours are 'old' ; the tiles are okay but colder than carpet ; the wood look whatever on the floor is just weird ; the carpet worked on the stairs so presumably was just left there ; the low wall IMO is a great feature , but that blue is dated . The wood on top is nice and warm . There are creams , there are beiges , there are yellows ; there are grey vertical blinds ; there are wooden horizontal blinds ; there are black round railings ; there are wooden railings ; there are thinner curved rails on the front door screen ; the fire is brown ; wooden railings a different brown ; sideboard different again ; coffee table a different brown ; the front door is a darker grey , the windows beside it lighter grey . SO . Paint every wall in one colour . NOT grey . It isn't a grey area haha . Maybe a warm English Cream . MAYBE white walls but only if you promise to add 2 or 3 large really colourful abstract pictures . The floor -- I'd opt for wood slats . Faux if you want , as long as they don't look plastic and shiny . Leave the stairs in the cream carpet , rip up the floor and foyer and dining tiles , do all the floors in the wood . Or re-carpet them again . But don't do polished concrete or engineered concrete or faux concrete or concrete effects . And tiles should only be in kitchens , wash-house and bathroom IMO . Stain everything wood a really rich brown brown . About the same shade as the wooden venetians . Possibly keep the venetians , change the grey blinds to wood , or at least dark brown cloth . I think the door surround is aluminium ? I'd actually be tempted to change it to actual stained brown wood , but possibly 'just' get it re-powdercoated a deeper brown . Paint or powder-coat the 'arch' front screen a rich dark brown too . Add the large abstract art , the TV wall mounted -- a lot warmer , a lot richer . Which leaves the front door -- replace with a nice solid wooden natural timber one ? Paint the existing one ? Charcoal paint , or bright red , bright yellow , bright orange , apricot may suit , purple probably not . Save it for last , see what you think as far as colour goes .

Update on this. We have decided to keep upstairs unchanged in terms of layout. We will live in the house for a period before making any layout changes upstairs - 2 Bedrooms will be for our girls, while our son will sleep downstairs in the living room (now bedroom) as this was seldom going to be used. Now we are looking at the kitchen design - photos attached of current kitchen which will be completely refreshed along with the tiling in the kitchen / living area. Looking for any ideas on how to best update the kitchen - notice under the stair case is not currently being utilised but we would like to perhaps have the fridge or pantry under the stairs to include this dead space. From the kitchen window to the stair case is 4950mm x 3200mm approximately depth of the current kitchen. The stair case hangs into the kitchen around 750-800mm. Wondering if it would look silly to have perhaps the fridge built here and this cabinetry would sit proud of the bench space next to it, but we could also install deeper bench space to balance the look... We are planning to have the eye-saw built in fridge space currently in the kitchen removed altogether.