Stand in the doorway to your room and decide how you want your room to present. What do you want to notice first about the room? How are you going to use the room? How many people would you like to accommodate in the room? Where do you want your TV or where is there provision for it? Will it be easily visible from all seating? Will the positioning of your seating look inviting? When it comes to colour, do you want a room that looks fresh and cool or one that is warm and cosy? This will dictate your colour scheme as well as the natural lighting in the room. The room shown appears to take inspiration from the painting which is a very good way to start a colour scheme, but you can always work in reverse and find artwork that compliments and enhances the room. Once your have some direction, go shopping with your camera phone and take photos of anything that interests you. Collect sample colours where possible and gradually build your room. Don't buy anything until you have the major items decided - we can be very restricted in choices, and an impulse buy can end a disaster. It will all come together, it just takes time and patience.

Hi I Lesslie, What a lovely place to make your own (and bring up your kids, work, garden…). The best way forward for you and your family is to jot down what you love and what you don’t love about your existing home and land (site). This can vary between individuals. Your list should include aspects like the leaky bathroom, as well as particular rooms being ‘too dark’. Don’t forget the wonderful features such as a particular view to the garden (or hills beyond), enough lawn to kick a footy, and so on. Now transform these into two ordered lists: the first list being the things you love about your home and your site (list in priority order); the other list is for the items that need changing for functional or aesthetic reasons (also in priority order). Next, write down what your short term and long term needs are for your home: do you intend to live there until the day you die, or just while the kids are at school?; are you intending to continue to work from home?. Now, to think about how you imagine you’d like to live, work and exist as a family. Forget for the moment your current home scenario. Write down the types of rooms/space you need (as distinct from ‘want’). List the aspects of living you enjoy, such as family gatherings, friends visiting overnight, and son on. What about your work from home requirements: do you need a space separate from the living (kids zone) to make telephone calls, concentrate? And how big should this space be (occasional staff)? After much soul searching, you will have what we call a “Functional Brief”, bringing together the pro’s and con’s of your project, your long term plan and your wish list. This should now become your ‘go to’ document that sets the agenda for your renovation project. If an idea is not on your list, don’t go there! There is another benefit of creating your Functional Brief. Whilst creating and editing these documents you will become more attuned with the worth (benefits) of each component. For every project there needs to be a budget – and your budget will assist in prioritising what is most important to you (the tighter the budget, the greater the need to prioritise). Your next step is to take your Functional Brief and your budget to a suitably qualified architect. An experienced architect should be able to transform your Functional Brief and your budget into a project – a renovation project that is specific to you, your family, your site, your budget and your future. Best of luck, Cathi

Thank you Scottevie.... Today, I’ve had a good look at Early Settler (gorgeous store!), Temple & Webster, Miss Amara, Freedom, Fantastic Furniture (which has come a long way).... and even Magnolia.... and I’ve found some beautiful alternative rugs to this one .... but not this one. I might put on my big girl undies & give the heart a little thrill & see if I can find it in the US - & how much of a loan I might need to get it shipped lol.

I was just thinking of making more of a substantial open living space, in terms of the extra floor space to the east, as I can see it being the part of the house that we would be in all the time. In terms of the north side, we are on a corner block and so there is a 4 metre setback on that side, which we are already at. I don't know much about these things, but I assume that wouldn't be able to be changed. I am planning a nice garden on that side of the house anyway, which I am excited about, and we like to have the space all around the house (i.e. no fences close to any of our windows, giving the feeling of privacy and space in a modest suburban block). The other thing I think of a lot is regarding passive solar design principles, and having our house oriented the way it is (West facing), I am reluctant to do anything too major unless we can really capitalise on this. Having the bedrooms on the northern side does work really well for us at the moment, as we use them a lot - with small children napping and my husbands office being on that side. Although that will change when the kids grow up... I'm hoping we can at least add some skylights or something like that into the extension area/kitchen in order to bring in more light. Our kitchen is quite dark and cold in winter.