Hi kazzi18 Nice house, strong frontal appeal and typical of the period, I would not change the front with the exception of trimming some trees so that it can be seen slightly better. I think that what you propose is possible and the budget seem close. Here some things that you might like to consider: 1. To give it a required style I would do it by changing slight details to the front if change is required. The handrail has to meet the Australian Building Code (NCC) especially for height and minimum width between balusters. (Cannot tell from the pics that you posted). You may be able to amend it and keep the original - steel can be welded successfully if required. 2. To get your third bedroom I would do a number of sketch plans maybe from a couple of professionals - this will give you an independent view of possibilities - I think a good investment, and you are not tied top any professional that may have their own design agenda once you sign on the dotted line. There is quite a bit of information on your posted plan, dimension wise, you really need a few heights and some information of sewer and drainage all relatively easy to obtain. Then its just a matter of emailing a couple of Building Designers of your choice. Some photos of the side elevation will help in determining an approximate slope, you could employ a surveyor to do a site survey with falls and features (you would most likely will need to employ one eventually - especially if you are going to build close to boundaries or renew any fencing - should have your block surveyed so that you don't suddenly become noted by any surprises in relation to boundaries.) 3. When you are happy with your layout (Sketch Design) you can then employ a Building Designer/Architect/Drafts-person to provide you with documents for a Town Planning application and a Building Permit as required. In the long run you could save some money, by this process, and get your preferred outcome. I have done initial sketch plans for a few clients and it generally results in a fruitful outcome. 4. Both Bedroom 1 and 2 seem to be ample in size, however storage (Walk in Robes) are slightly small especially for a master bedroom. So reclaiming the downstairs space for bedrooms seem to be the way to go , you would certainly have to seal the garage exhaust fumes from such area and may be provide a new internal stair link to the main area. These are the sort of issues that can be sorted out with a little bit of "design work" ideas to determine the best solution. Regards Michael Manias - mm407p@gmail.com Building Designers

Kia ora Suzanna, A great place to ask this question is the web-chat function on www.kitchenthings.co.nz. They are Neff retailers and I have found their online chat to be so helpful. I hope you find the answer you need.

the cabinet doors need to be the same width across the whole wall and don't need to line up with the bottom cabinets and drawers..estimating the space to be about 2m with 3 equal spaces made up 6 equal doors about 30cms wide each...it's not necessary to match the bottom cabinets and quite normal to have different sections of wall cabinets slightly different widths and heights and siruskey's idea of having the new cabinets taller than those above the stove, to give the look of a dresser, would be excellent...the cabinets above the stove should be around 60cm tall and the cabinets on the other side could be up to 75cm tall

If you are referring to the plan posted on another discussion, you only have three windows on the facade, so it would not be a big design choice. I personally prefer 2430mm doors and windows with 2700mm ceilings, and standard height window and doors for upstairs 2500mm ceilings. But every increase to window and door height costs more money, so it goes back to budget.