on top of the other comments made - do some judicious pruning of the existing bushes and trees - particularly the larger one at the rear on the left. Making bushes and trees more compact by removing stragglers and "outliers" makes for a much neater appearance - and the total cost is a pair of pruning clippers and possibly a saw. investing in a bunnings blower/vac may also be worth while re cleaning up leaves before each home open. Legally you can trim branches overhanging from your neighbours property onto your property - but not past your boundary. any sawn off limbs do remain the property of your neighbour. Probably not a good idea to throw it back over the fence however as it may engender ill feeling. without seeing the overhanging branches - I am not saying you should chop it all down - but perhaps some removal of excess branches to reduce the amount of leaves falling onto your property. Remove all weeds, consider adding 2-3 large rocks into the garden areas - part buried to make them look as if they are natural rocks jutting out. make sure you have something to hang your garden hose on - neat and tidy is the name of the game. and make sure all your garden tools, fertilisers, etc.. are out of sight. The trick is to create the subconscious impression that the gardens are maintenance free. A lot of little things add up to a big difference. removing all cobwebs is a big plus. no one will notice the lack of cobwebs - but their presence is another story. clean/replace any corroded taps, remove any fly poo that is visible, is your roof visible? if so, clean it - get the leaves off. Chimney? repaint. polishing wood inside, cleaning windows, replacing dead or dirty light bulbs, replacing tired lampshades...etc. think of it as rejuvenation rather than renovation. make sure gutters are clean - they may need a paint or part replacing if corroded. same with downpipes. clean all accumulated dust. Repaint the low brick wall on the left under the fence - a nice fresh white - make it all "shine". I used to do landscaping/gardening - with a particular focus on helping people prepare their homes for presentation when they wished to sell. A bit of elbow grease goes a long way to bringing in the offers. fresh dark mulch can really improve a garden - ask your garden supplier which one will fade the least. Don't get anything too fine as the wind can blow it around. spend the time to first dig any edges down at least 75 mm before putting the fresh mulch on so that sand doesn't come through. think about how much preparation you want to do before each home open though. If you put down black mulch - there will be a lot of work getting leaves off it each week, otherwise it would be best to not go down that route. Ants? if so - get the ant powder out. otherwise they bring sand up and mess up the nice dark mulch. and... clean those windows again. best of luck

Hi Antionette, hopefully I can offer you some advice on this. 1) visually having the 2 ovens below the counter top in the centre would look better, although if you are planning on staying there for awhile or have older people living with you having them as a wall unit is easier for access. Also in saying that do you want your microwave on that wall also? or can it go in the scullery? If you do want it on that wall it is probably best to have it above the ovens, but not to high (a good height to the very top of the microwave unit is between 1650-1700mm. 2) Love two tone kitchens! I think doing the woodgrain on the overhead units and the island back would be perfect. I did a VERY rough pic to show you the colour combo, works well with the concrete flooring. Glass is great for a splash back however with this size you may need a join in it so just double check that. Otherwise Tiles is another option that would suit that idustrial theme and work well in your kitchen a feature. Maybe hexagon tiles, marble coloured etc what ever you feel looks best. 3) This really depends on if you need the storage although as your scullery is open and you can see it from the kitchen might be good to keep it cohesive. Also if you are working in there at night time this is a great opportunity to add in some LED cabinetry lights. I also noticed that the window isn't centre of your scullery wall I wonder if that could be moved. And also I thought it would look nice if the builder built in a bulkhead above your cabinetry (so there are no gaps between the ceiling and upper cabinets) and make them the same depth as the wall either side. It looks really nice if you can also add LED lights in there too, and make your kitchen really pop! I hope this helps you out and isn't too much info. Best of Luck xxx Tash

Did the $50k include demo and the new flooring or appliances as well? If $18k was cabinetry which isn’t unreasonable, was the remaining $32k just to remove the wall? What structural support was needed? You may not be able to open up the space without the structural work. Was there only one quote? Was it from a kitchen place? Did they sub contract out the demo and building? If so, you may get better pricing by project managing and organising the trades yourself. You need to finalise the structural items and layout before your get to the fun stuff of planning the kitchen cabinets.

Well, I had a structural engineer come to the house yesterday at a cost of $600. I thought I would get drawings or something for that price but this is what he said.....(oh, before his visit, I cute into some of the plaster of the dividing wall between kitchen and lounge and the brick wall goes all the way along the wall). Structural engineer said that the wall is load bearing because he think that it provids support the support rafters (or what the horizontal beams that are at the bottom of the cathedral ceiling). Those horizontal beams that go across the house (each one from back to front of house) and partly supported by the brick dviding wall. He said that if I totally removed the overhead walkway, I would still need to leave a post or some of the brick on either side of the current dividing wall , as well as a support beam between them. He said I could cut out a window into the wall, but the bigger the window the bigger the horizontal support beam would be required. He said he didnt like working with brick because it was not like timber etc, where you can calculate what load it takes. He said there can be a lot of variation in a brick wall. He said that I should contact a building designer (someone who can give an idea of design whilst also consdiering loads and being able to draw plans...he said normally, those people will ask his advice on something). I hate tryin to do renos, because you can spend a lot of money and not really get much from it, and also go in circles about knowing who is the best person to contact. I know I do need someone to help give me an idea of design, but someone who also takes into consideration comparative costs including structural elements/loads etc. When I said to him ..so I shouldnt see an architect, he said that he often sees things from architects with no technical drawings...just design only. I really would like to be able to see the view at the back from anyway in the house, but I am a little bit reluctant to move plumbing, as I imagine with a concrete floor, the costs will start to rise significantly if plumbing has to be moved. I tend to spend most of my sitting outside time, at the back of the house, looking at the lake...even though there is only 1.5metres from the back of my property to public land (and that I have to put fencing up there to keep my dogs in). It is only me and my dogs at the place, but I do want to make sure that any changes that i make are family friendly and AirBnB friendly. The exisitng laundry seems to have heaps of wasted space in it and because the current windown is so high in it, it seems to be very segregated from the outside pool and not in the best place. I dont know what to do with this place.