Hi Leecy, lovely to hear from you and hearty congratulations. No wonder you have been quiet. What a fun time ahead and I'm sure your new addition is going to thoroughly enjoy the attention of his 3 mothers. I can imagine the wonderful feeling of moving into a home that needs no work. It is fun to plan and do the renovations, but there just comes a time in life that freedom is so much more important, especially with babies - you just never get that time back. How far did you get with the renovations? Did you get the kitchen area done at all?? I put my new kitchen in last October while BH was overseas and I had it all to myself, MY decisions MY wants, MY needs. I didn't let on to anyone I was doing it so BH came home to a huge surprise and loved everything - I'm sure mostly because he didn't have to think about it. Everything is in drawers or on pull out shelving so no bending or crawling around the floor, except in the pantry which has all narrow adjustable shelving so the low shelves just have one large item on them making it easy to grab and nothing has to be searched for. All the joeys have been here since then for holidays and it got very high scores of approval. The only problem we have is trying to find things, with cleaning out, there are no hiding places left. Given us lots of laughs at least. Good luck with everything, and don't be a stranger. Sneak peek at part of the kitchen

bigreader I'm okie..thanks for caring ..just need time to readjust kind of walked out on my job..so looking for stuff to fill in my time ..I hate being bored and sitting sround fiddling my thumb been looking for courses to do and taking my camera out.. these I took yesterday in Warrandyte..

Hi Siriuskey, They are timber looking tiles - we absolutely love them. We are considering the same for the new place but potentially herringbone/parquetry arrangement. Much more expensive vs. laminate but easier to clean and no concern in relation to water...

Hey Nik Star, I've had a PowerPoint play with oklouise's edits. This is what I meant about garage entry to the pantry and a laundry in the garage. The red arrows are to stipulate to the builder that level access is required. I added extra garage depth to allow for the garage, that would definitely impact your facade elevation. If you remove the wall between the butler's pantry and mudroom you would have a SUPER PANTRY! But a true butler's pantry in that it was supposed to be where you would land with the veg from the garden so you would kick your shoes off inside the door, so I've noted a little bench seat there, then head in and wash it before heading over to the actual cooking area. Then if you get rid of the sliders and reduce the storage to shallow shelving on the middle wall you would have plenty of space to manoeuvre with mobility devices. For the washing labour machines - washer, dryer, dishy - try getting those mounted on plinths so the load on your poor back is reduced. I have dodgy joints so I am researching all the ergonomic ways to design work spaces to help me when I get to the awesome stage you guys are at with getting to build!