thanks for your information which complies with our recent experience ..our mid range kitchen was just over $40,000 with custom designed cabinets to suit specific personel needs, mid range appliances and basic laminates...stone benches for my kitchen would have added an extra $7000 but i chose the custom sized cabinets and extra shelves in all cabinets...: so much detail to consider

It was crossover between the 70s and the 80s modernist Cathedral ceiling open planned home with clay usually with clay bricks you can find planting Aspendale Gardens as well all englehart is a builder of this style or was that have a different style now that's a job with builder's they change their Styles to keep up with the modern wants current you be better off buying a second-hand one because people have tried to build them and all the wood in them is very expensive and he better off buying a second-hand one because to build new the wood is so expensive to do the beans and everything in the there's some in Brighton with the use the word seder

I love the drama of the brick wall and it is a major design feature of the house... however, there is a LOT of exposed brick with the fireplace surround also being exposed and you have mentioned you dont like the colour. Have you thought about covering up the other walls rather than this one, to tone down the brick work? I just wonder if you hate the amount of brick and you are taking it out on this wall because that's where it is concentrated while overlooking the rest of the house? Just food for thought... more food for thought. BTW I love the idea of hanging plants (though watering them might be a pain), I love the idea of a dramatic feature pendant and I also love the idea of the rug, all will soften or harmonise the drama. www.billyhoostudio.com

Hi Gogo65, Can I weigh in on some of the fabulous suggestions already made above and say that I think you have found a fabulous location to retire to. I hope no matter what you do that you enjoy the house and location if you are lucky enough to get it. Firstly, can I suggest before you embark on renovations, that you list the things in order of priority that are important to achieve for your forever home. Consider the things that will impact your lives as you age so that you can stay in the house for as long as possible. It is after all, proven the longer we can stay at home, the happier we are and the longer we live. For this, I would recommend you look at being able to live on one level and have at least another bedroom and bathroom on the same level as the master bedroom, in case you end up sleeping in separate rooms whilst one needs to care for the other, for whatever reason. Whilst this may sound a bit depressing, it is future proofing and will make your later years soooo much easier. For this reason, I would look at keeping the master bedroom on the main living level and if necessary, adding other bedrooms for guests either upstairs or downstairs whilst keeping the second bedroom on the main level. Think also about easy access and keeping reasonably wide hallways. Don't make moving around the house complicated. By all means add a lift for future access but make sure this is for access between spaces that are not essential for everyday use. Even with a lift, if you become limited in what you do on a daily basis, it is ideal that you make the second level non essential to your daily needs. This second level could be made self contained if you like. Having live in care is a good option or just for friends or family that want to stay a while. Given you already have a pool below the house and access to the lake is also down, I would make any further 'extensions' below the current house. The photo also suggests there is the possibility of excavating around the house side of the pool without compromising finished levels. By this I mean, the ground quickly slopes gently away from the finished pool level towards the lake, so with clever working of ground levels, you could provide good head height to a lower ground floor space, not just the legal minimum, and outdoor area to the back of the pool with possibly a few steps up to the side of the pool. If grandchildren are likely to visit for periods of time, I'd take this opportunity to extend the area around the pool too so the whole family can hang out there without everyone getting splashed. This could simply be a deck on the lake side or use some of the excavated soil to build up and extend the paved area on the lake side. Also, from the photo you have provided, extending the roof from where the current master bedroom is looks troublesome whereas extending from the living and dining area would be far easier to achieve. Orientation is also something to consider. Obviously this is fixed but there is the opportunity to maximise the benefits of solar access and shading where possible. Am I right in assuming your view out to the lake is a few degrees east of north and that your views to the west are limited by the new house on that side? This is ideal and works well with the house. I'd try to make the entrance nicer and open it up a bit. Make the access from the garage through the mud room would give more wall space in the entry for art or a mirror. In terms of finding an architect to jazz up the front elevation, you could make more of the entrance by raising the height of the entry roof, which would also get good southern light into the entry which does not need shading and is good all year round. You could do this by continuing the garage roof up over the entry which would move the ridge from the centre of the garage over towards the entry. Given all of this, can I offer the following possible layout or something similar to it. You could add a powder room in the hallway by making the robe to B2 smaller, but there are three full bathrooms in this layout. You could add more clerestory lighting or a skylight to the entry area. If you didn't want a scullery, you can remove that and put the space into the media room or the living. The kitchen can still be big enough without it and dne very smartly. You could also push the toilet space from the B1 ensuite 500mm into the dining area to get more light into the ensuite. This would create a recess for a sideboard to sit into on the dining side. I'd keep the east facing windows for the dining space smaller than the lake facing ones to give more privacy to the ensuite. Good luck. Don't forget, as mentioned by others, renovations always present surprises. Try to make the best of these and look for positive solutions rather than compromises. Christine.