Kate: - I like the idea of a door at both ends of the new central bedroom doorway - maybe some kind of thin sliding door or a foldable shutter door might be best? - house can’t be knocked down/rebuilt due to location in a heritage conservation area OkLouise: - thanks again for doing this - I’ve loved all of your updates, they are so well thought out and hope to incorporate them all into the build - will send you a token of appreciation when the build is finished! - we have already been thinking about whether to rotate the kitchen island 90 degrees as you have drawn - i think it might look weird? but i’m not sure - theres a lot for us to process with your new updates so we'll need to spend some time thinking about them! - i’m resistant to reducing the size of study 2 as that’s the most important room for me as i will spend a lot of time there and it is doubling as a work productivity office/man cave so really want that room to be fantastic! - i thought the laundry chute was above the laundry but will need to ask the architect Siriuskey - I also think there may be too many bathrooms in the house - due to the good location of the property i think it is hard (within reason) to overcapitalise on the property so believe it will grow well in value in the long run so would rather overdo it than underdo it - FWIW the other houses in the street/adjacent streets are kind of similar to our proposed plan so its not out of keeping with the area - am still wondering about combining the downstairs powder room/adjacent en suite into one big bathroom for a bath - variable number of family members staying but 4 to 11 over 3 generations at various times of the year - the plan for the mudroom is for it to be the entrance into the house that we use most so it can also act as a cloak room too so that’s why its not near the laundry - i don’t want a lift in the house as it seems unnecessary for our needs and fi we ever ended up in a situation where we needed a lift we would just sell and downsize Dreamer: - i think we (parents) might end up living downstairs when the kids get older/noisier - they are in primary school currently Pleased to Bijou design - point taken about number of bathrooms - i don’t really have a good answer Paul Di Stafano & Dr Retro - i can sense and empathise with your professional frustrations :) - thanks for the good luck wishes, I agree we’ll need it - fortunately I’m a lifelong/relentless optimist and things always seem to work out ok in the end (and if they don’t, I’ll take it as a positive learning experience) - thanks for the insights into dodgy busy practice business models mummagabz - thanks for comment about small robes - will look into making them larger

(overlapping posts) the mudroom and relocated laundry could be an assett if there was direct access from the garage but the space i've used as a study nook could also be a laundry or pantry as i think the MPR would have more appeal to more people and only kept a sink because it's already there and could inspire future buyers to add an ensuite for a guest/rumpus room...upstairs could include a bedroom and separate sitting area but the spacious master suite will be more appealing to more buyers and the wiw could be used as a baby's room but improvements to the entry and kitchen will give the best return ... doorways and/or supporting beams shown as dotted lines will avoid the extra costs of attempting to remove whole walls with ceiling repairs and a bath (relocated from upstairs?) would be an assett in the family bathroom for what would now be a generous family home with 4-5 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, wiw and biw, separate powder room, open plan kitchen and three living areas!! ...will post some other options for the old laundry after the school run

I'm assuming a Pooja room is a prayer room?? You have an extraordinary large home, unless the rooms are very small, for two people. So there should be room in another part of the house to place the Pooja room. Keep original plan as is. with living to the front. You have to try and get some northern sun into your home. But, do you really need three living areas, plus a study plus 4 or 5 bedrooms, for two people?

Hey Larkspur, thanks for the great response! Actually, you are correct, according to the building inspection: "The original section of the dwelling is constructed upon a strip "edge beam" concrete footing system incorporating a suspended timber frame (bearer and joist flooring system) with the newer addition/s constructed upon a concrete slab footing system." That original edge beam has had a damp course put in along one side of the building, just FYI. I actually have trouble telling where the original section ends. The floorboards extend into the 'dining' area (hardly a dining area - you might fit a small table with 4 chairs in there). However, the rear of the bath area towards the courtyard is sided with that same weatherboard type material that's on the extension. I suspect they may have rebuilt the exterior of the bath and laundry area but that it was the original profile of the house. Regarding the fibre cement. My inspector noted there was a chance such material contained asbestos. But the building approvals attached to the Form 1 were given in the very late 80s / early 90s. As far as I am aware, they stopped making that material in the early 80s so I am hopeful we missed that. There is, however, a small amount of confirmed asbestos backing in the power meter box for example. As you saw. I am a huge bath fan and would definitely put one in. I have a soft spot for the cedar wood japanese baths but I suspect that's a pretty niche taste and wouldn't add as much value for future owners as much as me haha. The bathroom, even in it's current envelope, has heaps of spare room. The northern light actually enters the 'bottom' of the layout - e.g. the verandah / lounge / spare bed side. However, we get a fair bit of light in from all those windows in the breezeway. There is a very odd step down between the dining room and the are marked as living. As in, you jump off the floorboards onto tiling in the living area. As you get to the rear of the extenion, you actually step back up again. Not sure why they did that. The courtyard is level with the lower dining area. If I had a vision of a great kitchen, it'd be one with a bar running along that wall where the laundry meets the dining area. Maybe that bar would run along the windows to the courtyard too, forming an L shape. And a very functional, big cooking and prep area with a window to the courtyard. So, someone cooking could chat to their buddies and hand them a plate over the kitchen counter, or through a window potentially. The first house we really loved had a huge walk in pantry, triple insulated. That'd be awesome too but not sure if we would have room for it! Style is up in the air. We need to live in a bit longer to figure that one out. It already has a nice warm feel and I think we would try and keep that.