Dee, if resale is important to you - as in you are planning to sell in the next 5 years, then I would attend as many open houses in your immediate area as you can before you decide all this and just gauge what other homes have and the prices they want for them. You also need to ensure you keep everything in proportion with the rest of your house. If your living areas are not spacious for example, having a very sumptuous master bedroom suite will be totally out of proportion with the rest of the house and not necessarily attractive to buyers. If you are planning on staying in the house for a good length of time - at least 10 years - then forget it, do what you want to make your home comfortable for you. I never cease to be amazed at the renovations and alterations people do after paying top dollars for a home. If you personally have no need for two bathrooms, then maybe accessing the main bathroom from the master bedroom is a good way to go, it depends on your needs regarding the other 3 bedrooms. Is one of the other bedrooms large enough to put a powder room into and still have good space for a bedroom or office. That would give you an extra toilet at least. Does your laundry have room for a shower to add extra amenities that way.

Thank you both very much. You've both put a lot of thought and effort into this, its much appreciated! Its definitely opened up my thoughts and ideas on the space! Its definitely not as daunting as I was thinking and it is do-able! When you look at it everyday you get a bit stuck. I guess I need to weigh up making that study space smaller. It then makes the house technically 3B 2B. But I'm going to have to compromise somewhere for this to work! Its nice to have something tangible and clear to show the builders, so thank you! I might start drawing up something that's a little of both, as I love aspects of both designs. :)

Thank you Annalee. It's was a compact ensuite (size 3.5 x 1.5mts). However, we were able to redesign the space to fit in all the mod-cons!

I hope you don't mind... seeing the external pics I have a totally different idea! But don't worry I don't expect you to actually use it, and it's just a rough sketch. You don't need to extend the footprint at all in my opinion. based on the picture of the front of house your drawing is a bit out... the entry stair actually sits to the left of the front door I think. so there is a little more room there, but i'm not sure if its wide enough. So maybe there is enough room to put a hallway back in and create a master suite upstairs? The front deck becomes a private retreat and I put the bath out there! It's only accessible from the master and bed 4. If you don't need that many bedrooms maybe even leave the master and bed 4 combined and have a huuuuge master area. there's still the study downstairs that could also be a spare bedroom. I thought as the front deck is so private it could be really luxurious. The old kitchen becomes the walk-through robe and ensuite. The new kitchen goes straight under the old, and the kitchenette becomes the bathroom,accessible from the pool. the downstairs kitchen is connected to the dining and living, but the posts define the areas. The kitchen can have a halfwall with a servery-style opening between the posts, and will still have that connection. I didn't draw it in on the downstairs picture, but the entry needs to be pushed a little forward and then the stairs run up from the left corner and arrive where the original entry was upstairs. The downstairs living is accessed straight from the entry at front and opens onto the front patio, under the back deck becomes the back patio. I feel like you have less new to build and retain more of the original layout. in fact the upstairs bathroom is entirely intact.