LB I think you confuse me as much as I probably confuse you. LOL. ;-) I noticed I had some crazy auto correct word in my last post which I think was supposed to say "able" (I can't remember now what it even said) ;-) Oldroo I think the builder said something like sticking the old roof bats under the floor. The rain, yes we had it here more then a week straight!! It was great because 1) I was on the sunny coast in Qland that week! And 2) we are on tank water which we have been running off empty for about 6 months now and we just got a second tank connected a few weeks ago as well as guttering on our shed and guess what.... Our tanks were overflowing for days!! We could of filled 3 or 4 tanks at that rate!! So I am very happy about the rain!! :-D

What a find! Most houses of this era in Sydney have been gutted and renovated or bulldozed. Agree with all previous comments on keeping the general era as is, just freshen up. Definitely do the left hand window, either a tart up or replacement. Only disadvantage with pulling up carpet for the (no doubt beautiful) floorboards is that they didn't exactly have the same building standards back then! There may be gaps between the tongue and groove, or patchy lengths if they were always going to carpet over the top. You will probably want to insulate under them too. Possible better to keep the carpet until you have the money set aside for any eventuality of replacement work. If you don't want to keep the interior trim timber, just make sure you sand back the layers of estapol that would have been put on the over the years. The original was probably an oil based stain with shellac over it and others would have been added over the top. Many undercoats or stain blockers or even ESP claim to 'cover up' old stain etc, but in the 6 houses I have done for myself, and 13 houses I have flipped, I have not seen any of them work properly. Colour from underneath still bleeds through. I use a Black & Decker mouse with 80 grit paper to rip the top off, then go back over it with 120 or 140 grit. Make sure you have a P2 mask on while doing it! It is a bit of work, but worth it in the long run. The finish will be smoother, the colour more uniform and you won't get bleed in the future. A Pascol undercoat on the trim, then Dulux Natural White (which is a soft white with warmth) low sheen on the walls and an Aquanamel in the same colour semi gloss (or gloss if you like that) for the trim. It is a colour that takes on the characteristics of whatever colours you put with it, unlike a stark white that screams against anything competing with it, or a tinted white that you need to compliment. As for landscaping, I agree with Annie Cass. Homes like this were of the traditional English era and were complimented by an English country garden. Quite formal with borders, roses and flowering shrubs. Very thirsty too! Annie's suggestions are the Australian version of that though you will have to keep the cyprus' down. They do grow quite tall and will block the view/sunlight from the front. The RHS of the driveway looks ripe for Jasminoides (star Jasmine. They require little are of soil for planting and little water once established. Green all year and have the most glorious scented white flowers. Unlike Ivy or some other climbers, they are not invasive. Run some steel cable along the fence through each of the uprights (drill holes and thread through with turnbuckles on the ends) for it to climb on. It will be the only thing you need down there as it should take off nicely with all that sun! Just make sure you poke the tendrils back and train them regularly to keep it on the wires and keep it trimmed back so as to not block your driveway. Most of all, have fun with it!

Appreciate the thoughts and this may be a solid option elsewhere in the country but in my circumstances I don't plan to be moving from this property any time before the kids are 18. It is located in Sydney's inner west, and in a specific high school catchment I plan to take advantage of when the kids are older. Stamp duty to buy the property was close to $100k and if moving out even in ten years to a larger property; that averages $10k a year spent on stamp duty. I know 115m2 internal is tight, as is the fixed layout due to existing bedroom walls, ceiling heights, wet areas, and the like - but there has to be a way to make this work... I have read that 4 bedroom apartments should be 102m2 or bigger. I am willing to make compromises where possible but I really want to create that extra separate room "Multi-purpose room" which can double as a study/work area/kids play area/media room/ad-hoc sleeping accommodation". Paul Di Stefano: I don't think these changes essentially equate to 'rearranging a sock drawer' - this is my PPOR so I am not too concerned what other buyers want or resale value if I plan to hold the property for 10-20 years +... (any trends we design for now may well be outdated by then anyway). Many buyers highly value indoor-outdoor integration. By moving the kitchen to centre, it opens up the rear and creates indoor living->outdoor living link. If I get IKEA flatpack kitchen and DIY as much as possible - have a friend reroute the water/drainage/+his licenced electrical friend...hopefully this work would cost sub-$20k. Adding the sliding door to rear is $2.5k. Ensuite, bathroom and laundry I believe I can fitout for $10-15k all up- let's say 15k (again, tiling, raise flooring, showers/fixtures/flat pack laudnry cabinetry install all done in-house without tradies). The only thing I really need professionals for is to move the gas line in kitchen, BIR installs, stone benchtop, and maybe a few adhoc wall demo/construction/doorway moving - lets call that 10k. All up ballpark that is 47.5k? Sirius- If I go with your style plan then I lose the potential 4th bed space and have no where for relatives to stay, babysitter, nanny; etc :( Maybe it is a possibility that the main living space be used for lounge room and kitchen, we can always put dining table in the Multi-purpose room, then when that room is needed for sleeping accommodation, the dining table be moved to the side and kids can eat dinner on island bench bar; lounge or outside table... ? those doors to each side of the fireplace as you suggest - this space is very cramped outside (2.45m width) and potentially would be used to store trailer or garden shed, there is an old terrace built on zero-boundary there and they have a DA to go 2 storeys; which will shadow the whole area. This is why I planned to make the rear south corner a raised deck and try to channel house activity leading out the existing glass french door to that deck, or the rear sliding door. See photo-(my house is on the left, terrace zero boundary on right, and front on is a wooden dividing fence which on the opposite side is the driveway/1 car park and front street.

could suggest that you make the extension a separate building connecting via glass or other enclosed walk ways ie: one extending from the passage into the family and another between the kitchen and pantry they only have to be deep enough to stop the gutter from the original house touching the new house which could have amazing sloping roofs and high ceilings. I also notice that I haven't marked a laundry, that shouldn't be too difficult. You could consider extending the carport along the boundary which could include a laundry, WC within a pool house for the NEW Pool. Many ideas as many ways to do things cheers PS: do you want to share where the house is, must be one of the wine country areas in , guessing SA,VIC,Hunter Valley