Louie - pretty well I think. See my latest renditions below. I have been playing around with how to screen off that toilet/shower area from the living room. Not only would it be preferable to keep the toilet out of sight, but it would also be nice if people pop go down and up the stairs to visit the toilet or shower without having to do a short "walk-of-shame" past the potentially occupied living/dining room. I was thinking a of having a partially-drawn pair of curtains or perhaps one of those dangle-y "fly curtain" type things to disrupt the view a bit, but then I thought a set of swinging doors with tinted/diffuse glass in them, because: 1. You can charge in and out of this busy area by just pushing through the set of doors, and letting them swing back in to place behind you (like saloon doors) 2. The glass panes will still allow the person to see if anyone is on the other side, so they don't bowl them over. Will also let natural light in. Also means could do away with the laundry door perhaps, since it will be kind-of redundant (main purpose was to eliminate washing machine noise in the living area) 3. The doors also stop heat from the fireplace drifting up the stairs on cold winter nights when the fire is going. Not a crucial thing at all, but a nice additional benefit Thanks for sharing the floor plans - it's given me a much clearer picture of what you've done with that pole house...looks fantastic! brizcs - great point about the chair by the window, that's really struck a chord with me so I am toying with ways to do this. One idea I had is in the plan below: Rather than put a narrow table hard against the glass, maybe swing the kitchen table 90 degrees, make it longer, and have people sit along the south side looking out the windows most of the time. When it's night time or there are lots of guests or whatever just drag the chairs to the other side and you're back to the conventional set up. If a table where flush against the windows it would mean a lot of direct sunlight on its surface throughout the cooler months, due to the low angle of the sun (glare might become a problem?)

Heating and cooling: I suggest insulation is a necessity. We have a log fire in our lounge room, but one has to sit quite close to it to get any benefit from it. I usually have a throw rug, plus a cat on my lap, and often one next to me. The heat rises , so your upstairs area will often be toasty warm, but the downstairs area will be cold. In Sydney, depending on if you are coastal or further inland, it may or may not be a problem. Consider something like underfloor heating, perhaps? That is what we are going to look at when we renovate. Or, you could try a ceiling fan which is designed to blow the warm air down - depending on the size of your void, you may need more than one. I have a fan, but I am not convinced it does much.

Hi there Nick, looking at your photos you look like a modern hamptons family which is lovely, do you live in a warm climate. I did like the photo you posted of the open plan living and think that you are on the right track with interior colours I have marked out how I would like the first floor, I have moved the kitchen to the end wall to line up with BBQ outdoor kitchen, plumbing for this would have easy access via the garage below. The white tiles look lovely and hard wearing for the entrance foyer and Rumpus room, the stairs in timber due to the amount of traffic even continuing in up stairs foyer kitchen dining living, Carpet in bedrooms and downstairs theater. Kitchen in white but possibly Shaker style white doors these are very popular. Using existing sliding exterior doors if possible from kitchen.Dining to verandah, I think this ceiling would be best kept white to help reflect light back indoors, the tiles appear to be in good order but you might consider changing these along with new upstairs flooring Some where for a laundry shute would be handy, actually a Dumb Waiter so you could move the laundry with ease both up and down! The roof painted a soft colour, grey/white or off white, the verandah railing could be the same colour or you could do glass. The builder had a very different style of house to what I think you are wanting. Your photo

Hi Yatta, looks like a reno will add function, value, practicality to your home especially needed right now with little people. You need to be able to see the whole are for safety. So I have a string of questions: Which way is north and do you have shade to the windows on the second floor? How many people living there? Do you or your husband like to cook? How often do you shop? What size fridge? Do you bake: would a pantry/ appliance cupboard be ideal for your style of cooking? What rooms are next to the kitchen and are their sizes convenient for your needs? Were you thinking to knock out wall between kitchen and tv space? Do you have visitors for BBQs, parties, house guests, family gatherings: ie how many do you cater for maximum? And dimensions for the rooms. Once we have answers to those and probably more(!) then we can begin to piece together an overall idea of what will suits you and go from there into how to arrange the fittings, fixtures, how the spaces will be used, where things will be stored, how the space will function day to day, week ends or for crowd gatherings! Lots might seem irrelevant but it is not. It is essential to gather heaps of information required to glean the overall running of your home. Happy to help from here. Look at my www for ideas too. Cheers Margot