@baretta11...you made me laugh heaps! You sound down to earth and no fuss...I like that. My walls are all natural timber, curtains cream, some pink in the bedroom and bathroom with pressed metal rather than subways...a bit older style but painted pale shell pink. Yes real hardwood rable, decent sized cooktop...I imagined the tomato sauce but could not imagine these young people even cooking that! Decent 6ft 1924 bathtub all reglazed...the whole bathroom is reminiscent of the inside of a shell...used to live in the islands so a few shells for decoration... "Old Fashioned" never dates! THE BLOCK will date very quickly and even become non finctional....but there's the money so let them play. The wooden bathtub got me...couldn't wait to see if it had been made from a solid lump of wood...but Oh No...the bottom is glued.....one day the people below will have a shower where they don't expect! Then how will that be fixed and who will foot the expense? No thanks! "Grandma Chic" is a big joke for me too. My Grandma was always classical and simple and always looked lovely..."Little Old Lady passing by...". At least what 'we old fashioned ones prefer is founded on substance, substance lasts a lifetime and then some. Some places are dateless as are some dress fashions. All this renovating and decorating is fun to watch...even thechildish antics and the bare faced lies...don't know how they do it, I'd be out of the game very quickly! Looks stunning but wonder what it will look like, say, in about 12 months...and I don't think God would be at all prompted to save them from some of the folley.....but it seems to be a temporary world with temporary fittings....I'd rather live in the past in my solid old house that nothing has managed to destroy in 94 years...it will outlast me...and then some developer will come with paper and glue and put up a block of temporary units....Reminds me me of the three little pigs somehow...or the Cheshire Cat and Alice.. .."Which way should I go from from here? asked Alice. Cat: "you can go either way...they are all mad. " Alice" "But I do not want to go among mad people". Cat: "Oh you can't help that, everyone is mad here...you're mad and I am mad...". Alice:"How do you know I am mad?" Cat: (who by that stage had become partly invisible) "You must be if you are standing here talking to me!" Enjoyed the exchange baretta11 Parla Italiano?

I believe that adding a recessed/tray ceiling will make the living spaces feel larger. Here are some examples below. You can paint white or add trim or another colour such as grey to add a visual feature to the room. I would also suggest moving the laundry to the garage/outside to increase your kitchen size. this means you could run your kitchen cabinetry further along one wall and have space for an island bench. To create the modern coastal vibe, light grey walls with white trims and sheer grey curtains in a similar grey would look great. Best of Luck, PARS Building Construction

Start by spending a portion of your budget on the various dream feature items that are relocatable and can be used in your final design anyway. e.g. Buy the firepit you really want - it can become the focal point of your future garden. Test it outside in your backyard for a few months. Are heaps of mozzies annoying you while you're sitting outside around the firepit? If so, then you'll know that you're going to need a gazebo with flyscreens as well as privacy curtains so you can really enjoy lying outside in your hammock year round. The hammock is another relocatable part of your design. First, lie outside in your backyard on a swag or a rug for a few hours. Is it too windy? Is there road noise? Keep experimenting until you've found the perfect location for the hammock. Then buy an inexpensive hammock and suspend it from a couple of sturdy RL4 poles. If it's working, then this is the place where you should build your future patio, that's going to shelter your hammock. Keep testing inexpensive versions of your other ideas out. Trial tea candles or a string of inexpensive white Christmas lights as garden lighting. Do they create the feel you want or do lights just attract moths or unwanted insects? What about relocatable solar garden lights? Or a portable floodlight from Bunnings? Where's the ideal place for your garden table and chairs? Test it out with inexpensive camping chairs - or chairs you already own for a few months to be sure. Then invest in the perfect outdoor table and chairs. Same with the water feature. Start with a wine barrel with a waterlily or a second hand pond off Gumtree. Can you hear the trickling water in the garden or do other noises crowd it out? Keep in mind big goldfish need deep water and space to swim. To help you in your choice of plants,look around your immediate neighbourhood. What purple, blue and scented plants are thriving in your immediate area? Who has the best garden in your street in your opinion - and why do you think that? Do you always see a particular neighbour passionately working outside in their garden? That's the person you should strike up a conversation with to get advise about suitable plants for your immediate area. Chances are they will not only give you heaps of free advise but they will probably give you plants and cuttings as well. Markets are another source of perennial plants that grow well in the local area. Plant these smaller plants into large plastic pots and garden bags and allow them to grow for a year or so. Consider herbs as filler plants - many are highly scented, can be used in cooking and often have interesting foliage e.g. choc mint, fennel, rosemary etc. After you've been using your backyard for at least a year and you've experienced all of the seasons, then invest in your big ticket items like your gazebo. Buy or build a structure that's truly practical for your local microclimate - incorporate glass, windbreak fencing, shadecloth, mozzie mesh or whatever you need to make your hammock shelter ultra comfortable. Build this structure where you've tested it and know it will work - not where a stranger who designs gardens thinks it should go. Spend the remaining money on the things you know you need and want - the stones, plants, irrigation, a birdbath, etc

Serene, I believe your ceiling is ok, You don't need to go full height, there is a lot of ways to design kitchen for a high ceiling. Seems like yours is more than 3m high. Why not put some potted plants above the overhead cabinet? It can be fake plants, nobody will notice the dust if its high on the top. On your other question, I prefer Washing Machine to have a proper tub to soak shoes or really dirty towels, so if you can build another roof to boundary fence OPTION D like your sample photo, it will be most ideal. In Malaysia, its hot and humid, and lots of rain, so having a shelter that allows you to air the clothes is best.