Hi Adelaide again - been giving more thought to my suggestions and they are not going to work. For some reason I just can't get my head around metric sized rooms, I have to convert back to the old imperial. So assuming you are going to build up the alfresco area to make it a walk out from the house, look at taking that right across the rear of the house. With the master bedroom I was looking at walking into a hallway with a walk-in wardrobe opening off it but you will basically want the whole 3rd bedroom to achieve a decent sized wardrobe and give you maximum storage. I'd have the ensuite where the void area is, which basically leaves you the laundry for the bedroom - way to small. However if you were to extend the bedroom across the alfresco area, this would give a great sized room, with large windows looking across the back garden and doors opening out to the alfresco area. I'd then extend the house and the alfresco area to the end of the Activity room, slide the family room to that end and put the laundry in at the void end, which could be accessed from the outside or from the family room, whatever suits. This also has the advantage of keeping all your plumbing together except for the kitchen. Don't think about excavating, it can cause massive water problems. No matter how much you might add drainage, or seal the structure, there always seems to be those on in a hundred year events that can cause unexpected flooding. Water problems have to be the worst nightmare.

The plan looks a nightmare - bedrooms facing the street, a tiny internal bathroom with no window to the outside (is that legal?) and a "lounge" that looks like it was meant to be a third bedroom. If the internal walls are stud and don't support the roof you're in with a chance, but I'd say to do a proper job the cheap option is NOT going to work. I'd put two bedrooms where the current family room and lounge are and extend the bathroom into the boot room to give window access, or scrap the current bathroom altogether and use some of the space in what is now the kitchen for a new one. Keeping the WC separate is a good move. If you make the street side the social side of the house you can open it right out and create a big front porch that's a social spill-over from the kitchen/dining area, creating indoor-outdoor flow. Planting (two or three shade trees and some stands of tall perennials rather than a "green fence" hedge) keeps your front garden private yet inviting and stops your front porch becoming a stage set for the street. Good luck! I think you'll turn this very ordinary house into a much nicer place to live!

For the street appeal I’d get rid of some of the trees - at least trim them so you can see more of the front of the house. Then look to paint in a tone-on-tone set of colours with the weather board and brick in contrasting depths of colour. Greys, blues, creaming grey-beiges look modern and fresh. You could also choose a strong contrasting colour like dark red or bright green for your door to make entrance more obvious. For the extra room, agree that converting the garage would be most cost effective. Then spend a little money getting a carport designed to create visual interest for the front of the house. Good luck!

Wow now we can see the front, I think you should use the double garage for parking with side access to the garden to unload shopping etc. Remove the other roller door and carport, replace the carport with a pergola,. As previously suggested make lovely garden path access from the new front gate which would be to the left side of the picket fence, , Run another courtyard fence off the garage so that you can plant this area and include a clothes line, this now the rear entrance to the house. At the end of the new pathway to the lane side of the house, extend the deck and add stairs so that you come from the pathway up onto the deck on the old carport side. All that parking drive way parking space could be a lovely out door area. Paint the garage doors and gutters on both buildings grey to match your roof.Use a fence similar to this with a gate at the front and between the neighbours to the left. cheers,