Louie - pretty well I think. See my latest renditions below. I have been playing around with how to screen off that toilet/shower area from the living room. Not only would it be preferable to keep the toilet out of sight, but it would also be nice if people pop go down and up the stairs to visit the toilet or shower without having to do a short "walk-of-shame" past the potentially occupied living/dining room. I was thinking a of having a partially-drawn pair of curtains or perhaps one of those dangle-y "fly curtain" type things to disrupt the view a bit, but then I thought a set of swinging doors with tinted/diffuse glass in them, because: 1. You can charge in and out of this busy area by just pushing through the set of doors, and letting them swing back in to place behind you (like saloon doors) 2. The glass panes will still allow the person to see if anyone is on the other side, so they don't bowl them over. Will also let natural light in. Also means could do away with the laundry door perhaps, since it will be kind-of redundant (main purpose was to eliminate washing machine noise in the living area) 3. The doors also stop heat from the fireplace drifting up the stairs on cold winter nights when the fire is going. Not a crucial thing at all, but a nice additional benefit Thanks for sharing the floor plans - it's given me a much clearer picture of what you've done with that pole house...looks fantastic! brizcs - great point about the chair by the window, that's really struck a chord with me so I am toying with ways to do this. One idea I had is in the plan below: Rather than put a narrow table hard against the glass, maybe swing the kitchen table 90 degrees, make it longer, and have people sit along the south side looking out the windows most of the time. When it's night time or there are lots of guests or whatever just drag the chairs to the other side and you're back to the conventional set up. If a table where flush against the windows it would mean a lot of direct sunlight on its surface throughout the cooler months, due to the low angle of the sun (glare might become a problem?)

Thanks everyone, yes I love the look of old shearing sheds, which is the rustic look I'd ideally like to achieve, however the house design is a bit more modern - it is a long rectangular shape like a shed but the roof is curved at the top (like the Glen Murcutt house in Kempsey) instead of the traditional pointed gable. We're actually thinking of using the Ritech product for the roofing instead of Colorbond, as it has a high bushfire rating and comes in Colorbond colours. We like the darker grey roof because it doesn't stand out too much in the bush landscape and therefore 'anchors' the house. So as much as I love rusty gal, I think we will have to leave it to the outsheds (our current cottage 'the shack' is clad in the old galvanised roofing, which we replaced with a Windspray colorbond roof). It looks great because it's already rustic. I'd also like to use it as a feature inside the house (e.g. behind a woodstove) but don't have enough to clad the new house. The Dune colour is a good match with the creamy grey trunks of the Brittle gums, which is why I thought of using that. I also read somewhere that it's the best match with traditional gal (which I've tested and tend to agree with, although it doesn't have the rustic colour variation). Dune is also a good tonal contrast with the darker bricks and timber, so I'll probably go with that for the cladding as we don't really want a light roof, despite better reflection properties. I'm hoping having the high roof inside (to 4.8m at highest point of the curve) and good insulation will mean a darker roof is okay. My only real concern now is that I can't get standard aluminium windows in the colour Dune (they come in Shale or Woodland grey). I might be able to have them made in non-standard colours, but it would cost a lot more. Hence I'm thinking Woodland grey for the window frames, but am not sure if this would make it look too busy (i.e. with the bricks, timber and lighter cladding).

If the roof tiles are in good condition and you don't get leaks anywhere, then no need to replace something that is working well. If you are wanting to change the colour, the roof can be sprayed. A light colour would not be as hot as the current black. I think it would also lend itself to the coastal, Hampton's look you want to create. Your entry is lovely and welcoming. In saying you want to clad the exterior, do you mean with weatherboards like a Hampton's style? Vinyl or timber boards?

Thanks for your response Luke We have decided on the surfmist for window and door frames. Should give that dramatic effect with woodland grey and dune. Will send you a pic once finished. Kind Regards Bernita