Another option would be louvred slats, we have fixed slats at one end and fixed louvre sat the other, it has given us a usable extra room 9 months of the year, plus air flow and the breezes, the fixed louvres face west where our bad weather comes from. Image one - fixed louvres Image two - fixed slats Very little rain gets in, except in the exceptional storm, we have filled the west end top section with Perspex, and the sky light along the top sky light from the skillion. Image three - the area Image four - looking out from the kitchen sink

Hi fb57, Great charming federation house, retain the front and fix the back, then maybe later you can put in a granny flat - depending on cost and local council bylaws. I would not put in an attic - stairs are a good place for mishaps and as we age it might have limited functionality - but if its something you have your heart set on it might prove worth while. It appears that you are competent enough to do a decent measure up plan, going from what you have posted - you might need to take a few photo and a few other dimension to get a good design from someone working online. The idea is to get a design that you are happy with and then get a local competent Drafts-person to do your working drawings for a Building Permit and then get it built with a Builder of your choice. This would result in my opinion in a significant saving and a design of your choice, especially if you are willing to do some of the legwork with council and other authorities. To get a good design that you feel is a solution to your requirements, you need to produce a variety of design schemes (plans elevations perspectives etc.) and this can be done online with any competent Building Designer that you can get along with. It will not take one go at it - and it will not be quick, as you need time to digest every scheme but generally it works out in the long run. These are some of the things I would look at: 1. The possibility of breaking up the build into stages - maybe stage one do the renovations at the back and the stage 2 place in a granny flat. 2. As you have good access on both sides of the property I would place a new garage on the largest width and possible gate and walkway on the other side to give individual access to the granny flat. The new garage would be as closely to the front as possible, with the new fence an gate on the other side it would greatly improve security. 3. Depending on budget I would provide a bathroom shower and toilet with a walk in robe to the main bedroom and redo the kitchen and laundry if required. 4.The area next to the lounge area I would develop into an external entertainment area. 5 Since you mentioned that you have a "Fibro Extension" it implies to me that you may have asbestos on the property - get an expert in and determine if you need to remove asbestos when you renovate - this is a dangerous material and you should take all precautions possible to avoid long term damage. 6. An indication of the position of your neighbors windows and setback might also help in providing a design that complies with your planning laws and respects your adjoining neighbors. Like all things it will take a few revisions to get it right , but if you are willing to work at it, it will payoff in the end. The first thing is to draw up the existing conditions to scale so that an initial proposal showing possibilities can be worked on. I would be willing to work on this project with you online, I hope this is of some help. Regards Michael Manias mm407p@gmail.com

this house is such a great example of it's era it would be a shame to change it too much and the dark framed original windows and doors (with horizontal divisions not colonial panes) stained or painted a similar dark colour (including black) would be excellent but only over the original dark trim and others will make better suggestions for colour schemes but if you decide to add the entertaining areas, carport and covered walkways, dark posts, fascias, decking and pathways could make a a nice contrast with the blond bricks..DIY can be a great cost saver but having recently almost completed a similar renovation and about to start on another (we're also a retired couple) i would strongly recommend that you invest in a builder to take care of the overall construction and save money with careful planning (to avoid last minute changes) demolition (NB there's probably asbestos to consider) we saved by sourcing all our own taps, tiles, sinks, doorknobs, light fittings and happily recycled many of the existing fixtures and fittings (including sections of plaster cornices and etc and you could try painting, DIY flatpac kitchen and wardrobes, and consider prioritising the work based on your personal daily comfort eg although i suggested the old sunroom is worth renovating as long as it's safe and weatherproof the upstairs doesn't really need major changes and you could concentrate on the biggest project first OR start small and work up but it's always preferable to plan the whole property to avoid duplication and have a builder quote for the whole renovation and then you can stagger costs (and stagger out of bed each day) doing work in stages...In the meantime i'm assuming that your plans are from a real estate add so your very first project would be to make a very accurate plan of what you already own so measure every wall, thickness of walls, position of windows and doors, width of stairs etc ..even a few cms can make a huge difference in your options (eg the floor of the "study nancave" is probably lower than the living room and not waterproofed so do you want/need it enough to raise the floor, step down, enter under the stairs through a secret tunnel, come in through the old garage or leave it for the the boys??) obviously i can write ad nauseum but you will need proper plans for the external structures so it would be worth investing in professional drawings for the internal work as well your pre-planning will save time for the professionals (and your money) if you're reasonably confident about what will fit the spaces and i would be happy to revise the plans if you want to message me directly with the accurate measurements

I don't have the dimensions right now, but it's small, probably just big enough to fit a single bed when the kid gets older, but will more likely be a study down the track (great sunlight with huge windows). The cot/changetable/dresser will fit, but it's not the type of room I'll spend a lot of time in on account of the size. Just for baby sleeping/changing. Definitely painting, thinking white, maybe a pale grey for the wainscotting. It does get great light which helps. I'd love to have a feature wall wallpapered but I just think it'll close the space too much. The wainscotting will definitely close the space visually, but won't impair the fit of the furniture. We could just leave the recesses (hoping they're a bit less obvious when painted white) and place furniture in front, but I'd prefer more of a finished look. Thanks for the tips!