Hi Sarah, hope you enjoyed your travels last night, that's something we have spent our lives doing plus living in different countries. Do look into the attic room/s they are lovely and the Velux skylights very unobtrusive, look great and if positioned correctly take care of venting any hot air, as I mentioned ours were pivoting ones and could be locked open in several positions. I much prefer these to dormer windows, you don't really notice them. The stairs were built off site and lifted into position and installed, built in. At the time we did ours a very good friend a builder did the same but just completely opened the whole ceiling space right out towards the gutters into a large bedroom play study area for his daughters, also using Velux windows. Glass ceilings, like Velux windows have been around for years, believe me I know, we're both getting older. Velux windows can be used as glass ceilings in opening and non opening configurations. I would love to see you keep the outdoor loo as well and updating the old shed into a new connecting space to the house, perhaps a glass breezeway. I will have another look at your plan again over the weekend. I love your front iron gate as well, auto sliding driveway gates work really well and would really fit with your carport. My brother in law put in a tall timber sliding gate at his last home, lovely cheers

My advice is to think about the working/function as you need it for your family. Prioritise that (as a starting point) and get that happening somewhat free of a "box" shape extension and see how that all sits - it's like you're trying to squeeze it all in to a specific shape and then struggling with certain details....you're suggesting/entertaining ideas like a functional laundry/bag drop zone etc which 100% is important/relevant for a busy family of 4. The problem seems that there hasn't been true clarity on the function/requirements before the design has been proposed. Is it too small? Well it depends on how exactly you intend on using it - how many people need to be able to sit at the table or on the lounge etc..this will dictate scaling - whether or not you'd like a butlers pantry or not. Is the 3rd toilet needed? Well ultimately nobody can tell you that one way or the other - you will know whether functionally that is a requirement necessary for your family - all these are questions you will have (or need to establish) an opinion/position on one way or another and then (should) be able to work through (more effectively) & resolve with the architect whom you've engaged.....you are obviously staging the project which can be logical/necessary, and given this there may in fact be alternative and arguably more cost effective design options available for you (such as a 2nd stage "clean" extension for a master suite), but realistically that involves greater understanding/information of the site/context and your particular budget in order to provide specific advice/suggestions as to how best to achieve your goals...Good luck :) PD

we've found that renovation is usually a much more expensive option than building new and siriruskeys idea of a separate new building connected by a link to the old house would be my choice for most older homes needing renovating and unless the original house is in very good condition and has many redeeming features that you want to keep i'd collect some quotes for a knock down rebuild for comparison and also try and identify the variations in renovation quotes.. the variation is huge and implies a major difference in work to be done?? it would be interesting to see your plans

the carport could be converted to a separate rumpus or MPR with a concrete slab at ground level with access through the original entry porch enclosed to allow all weather access and use the old driveway for an outdoor sitting area and/or maybe use my new corner study as an alternate location for a new laundry to allow more space in the kitchen but it will need careful planning of a new "front" gate and footpaths to show clear directions to make sure visitors know how to find the "front" door.. attempting to access the new rumpus from the family room would create challenges with doorways, changing old external walls, ceiling and floor heights so i would simple enclose the carport space and keep it separate from the main house and you should be able to find inspiration from many examples of similar era homes (eg Pettit and Sevitt) that had timber cladding combined with blond brick walls BUT it would be very useful to organise a site plan showing the house and accurate distances to all boundaries, scale sized buildings, existing driveways, front gate, location of street address, power, waters, sewerage, precise direction of north and any trees that you would keep...an accurate site plan and more photos could help inspire other options or confirm that my suggestions are either possible or not