Cloudyhaze....I think all of the options look good, but it just depends on the look you personally wish to have for your house, because painting the ceiling white will COMPLETELY change the look. My sister has just bought a place that had brick walls and exposed ceilings that had the beams painted mission brown and the ceiling was in some form of raw chipboard type material. She wanted to brighten the place up before she moved in and got it all painted white. It looks beautiful, but I personally would have thought of other options before painting the brick etc. She got a quote for plastering (sheeting) the sections in between the exposed ceiling beams and it was a lot more expensive than painting. If you are keen to paint just the panelling in the ceiling, then I would get additional quotes. I am no painter but I would suspect if it has shellac on it, it will just need an initial sealer on it, before putting on the 2 coats of flat ceiling paint. I think all of the options will look beautiful, because the high ceilings are the feature.........it just depends on whether you are going for a more rustic look, mid-century look , more modern look...I am not sure of what all the designs are called. Good Luck. Your house is gorgeous. My sister lives on Gold Coast BTW.

two steps I see here 1. suggest you go back to council (either yourself or view builder if they are getting the permit) and question their particular interpretation of the reg 85, use the image posted previously and ask why "if a habitable room window is compliant when facing an open verandah so long as it's 1/3 open" an eave, which is 100% open and less overhang is considered to be non-compliant. If you have 1.4m offset from the boundary, and your eave is only 400mm, then arguably this window WILL be facing a light court with min 1m clearance to the sky (measured from the eave to the boundary) 2. If above is not accepted, then apply for the council "report & consent" process to vary reg 85. Best to discuss this directly with the relevant building surveyor so you can be confident it will be supported. Ask the surveyor specifically what that would likely need to see, such as do they want to see a bigger window of size Xmm x Ymm. You will likely need to submit updated drawings if the window currently drawn is on the min 10% of the floor area of the bedroom. It sounds like you may be out of your depth, and typically these report and consents involve response to Ministers Guidelines which can be tedious and you have to understand the technicalities and lingo, so perhaps it will be best to go back to whoever helped design/documented the building and get them to help you prepare the submission. It's now so close to Christmas/end of year and probably best this is handled after the flurry of the festive season has passed and people/admin/surveyors etc have some fresh energy and renewed patience.. Councils typically work on skeleton staff throughout this period so unlikely you'll get much of a difference in outcome timeframe wise whether you submit now or early new year. All it will do is be put in an admin pile and be addressed in due course Best of luck PD

keep in mind that my plan has single external walls and all the inside and outside walls are 10cm thick to make drawing easier and the depth of the verandahs includes the eaves, adding a brick veneer would use more space and given the choice it would be lovely to plan for a covered walkway and raked ceilings in the living areas and this is a very basic gable roof but there are lots of more exciting/expensive roof options to consider

This wasn't your question, but looking at a possible boxed out window in the open plan kitchen dining living it shows just how limited you space is. The following 3D overview shows a boxed out window seat. I have run the kitchen along the same wall as the new window, The Island is 2m x 900 with 1m between the wall base cabinets and the island and 1m between the Island and the wall where your plan shows cabinets. If you have/had cabinets along the other wall as shown on your floor plan they will be 600 deep this would make the island 1400 x 900 which is small. Has your kitchen been renovated and were you considering that, if not. Looking at the overall size of your open plan area I would be considering 1 or 2 large stacker doors to open up to the rear alfresco, that's what I would do but you need to choose what will work for you PS I think that the boxed out window at the front of the house is a lovely idea but possibly not right when it faces West.