can you post original floor plans and/or can you add dimensions to your plans including location of windows and doors and a site plan showing the old garage with dimensions and the distance from all outside walls to the old garage and all boundaries...if this is to be a long term home it's always better to make whole house plans rather than focus on only one section..

Hi OK Louise, thanks for responding; much appreciated. I didn't think there would be any point in posting the original plan as the house has been altered, built on to and walls changed etc since then but I will post the orginal if thats any help, but please remember some rooms have changed. The plan I've drawn does show the windows and doors if you look closely, the windows and sliding doors are marked with a double line, but no measurements as you've pointed out - sorry about that! The site plan is no good either as the house is situated completely differently to what is shown on the plan unfortunately, and may mislead some readers. The distance between the house and the garage is 5.6 metres and is parallel along the walls (so not on an angle to the house.) My reason for not worrying about measurements yet and posting here is because I am more wanting to come up with a layout before I approach an architect or draughtsperson, rather than deal with measurements now. Dimensions can be worked around the layout; plus I don't want to (can't afford) to be paying thousands to have x amount of drawings done in order to reach a lay out/plan I like; I'd rather put that money in to the renovations. Suffice to say there is sufficient room of 4 metres plus, on the left hand side of the house (shown in photo) to build out an ensuite & w/i robe. Thank you - please ask if you need anything else! Regards.

Sorry - the website will not allow me to edit my post so I cannot upload another plan yet.

My suggestion is to obtain quotes from architects . Choose one and get them to work with you on the property. They will organise the surveys , planners , certifiers ,engineers reports and hopefully come up with something close to your budget . Once all is ready to go you can wait until your finances allow you to renovate . At least , you should have no problems. Another alternative is to pay a civil engineer to come and assess your deck and supporting walls and possible earthworks needed to extend .

It's always exciting to think about potential plans for a newly purchased home. However unless you have experience and knowledge in regards to construction, costs and understand how particular design decisions impacts these things, you'd be best to (a) take some time to develop a clear picture or "vision" of the type of home you are aiming for and then (b) invest in some professional advice to help guide you towards your goals. When you say you can't afford to spend thousands on drawings, I'd argue that anyone considering a significant renovation project should allocate a certain component of their budget to professional design as a no-brainer investment to maximise the project potential and mitigate potential issues such as cost blow-outs or worse spending money in ways that misses opportunity and doesn't add value. Investment in planning and design is arguable THE most critical and $$ worth spending in order to get the best outcomes. As you have brought up, there are a whole lot of aspects to work through and negotiate, such as levels and structure. In order to get any sort of advice (either independently or on forum) measurements are critical and the first thing to establish, as well as other relevant contextual information such as levels and boundaries. Any design decisions directly impact costs, and unless you know what you're doing you can potentially head down a path of relatively expensive and extensive internal reconfiguration. Sure some of this may be required, but as we find regularly with these types of projects, mitigating renovation scope and exploring opportunity for some complimentary logical "clean"/simple extension aspect can be often the better option on a number of levels: better value, increased living space & better investment return longterm

Best of luck working through it - and even if you do minimal work, it's clearly a good property investment

Cheers PD :)

even with a good idea about basic construction, years of previous experience with numerous renovations and new builds we also employ professional help as good design is the foundation on which every other decision depends ...HOUZZERS can make suggestion but an on site inspection by local professionals is an investment that can answer questions and make recommendations about retaining walls and multi levels and all the rules and regulations that aim to protect us all from dodgy building practices and a concrete roof/deck collapsing under the weight of a renovation that doesn't have proper specs etc etc...we can test a few floorplans for you to discuss with professionals but there are so many questions that still need answering eg i'm wondering if you have direct access to the water for launching a boat as it could be a mistake to block the driveway down that side of the house? subject to engineers approval, would you consider extending over the deck? how many bedrooms do you want, where is north on your plan and descibe your climate...to achieve the improvements you've listed will be a major investment but planned properly the work could be achieved in stages that can give regular goals to save towards...economise elsewhere, good design is as important as all the other professionals you will need to employ but good design will add so much more comfort and value to the property than any other expense..and look forward to some basic dimensions?

Thanks everyone for your advice - it is appreciated. However maybe I should have mentioned that I do have reasonable experience and knowledge in the building sector and design. I have designed, moved, and had built my own homes previously and have never not been able to clearly visualise what to do and the outcome - until this house. I am well aware a good architect is well worth the investment - once I reach a base idea of layout. I simply did not want to pay to be presented with plans that cost $1000+ each that I would immediataly say no to. I put my post here for ideas on plan layouts in order to get some basic ideas to then take to an architect, yet that point seems to have been missed somewhere - my apologies if that is the case. I chose to post this as it reaches out to far more than one person's ideas - so as a soundboard, so to speak, before hiring an archtitect. No, the property is not on the waters edge and I am sufficiently, more than aware enough in development to take such things into account - my apologies for not mentioning that sooner - I just did not expect readers to focus on my choice to post it here prior to hiring an archtitect, as opposed to focusing on what I asked for help and ideas for. Thanks again & I hope I have not offended anyone by pointing out my reasons behind what some think may be a mistake - it is my choice to post and ask for help first before going to an archtiect, I was hoping I'd get some ideas on a layout only; I do not believe it is necessary to go into exact measurments etc until a basic layout is decided on. If you can help with layout ideas as opposed to questioning my choice to post here first that would be very much appreciated thanks.

without some basic dimensions of an existing building i'm stumped!!

My suggestions attached. However, without simple measurements of the rooms, it is not possible to suggest good alternatives to your plan. At the moment by your sketch, it appears you do not have a dining room, just room for chairs at the kitchen bench.

Also with my sketch, change toilet door to face old entrance.

For the connection between garage and the home, you could do a simple breeze way, either open, or enclosed with storage. The level of the breezeway to stay the same as the home. Have a ramp that goes to the retained level of garage, instead of stairs. See photo for visual explanation.