I really agree with all the folks who have recommended losing the headboard in favour of bolsters and pillows But the best advice of all I attribute to William Faulkner who cautioned writers to "kill your darlings" http://wendypalmer.com.au/2008/09/25/writing-rules-misapplied-kill-your-darlings/. In the context of interior design, I take that to mean that you should mentally strip it down to the bones and start again. I love your window seat/bay window. I love the valance sorta thing. But maybe you should lose them. If those are your darlings, maybe you should kill them and free your mind to think of other possibilities.

LB I think you confuse me as much as I probably confuse you. LOL. ;-) I noticed I had some crazy auto correct word in my last post which I think was supposed to say "able" (I can't remember now what it even said) ;-) Oldroo I think the builder said something like sticking the old roof bats under the floor. The rain, yes we had it here more then a week straight!! It was great because 1) I was on the sunny coast in Qland that week! And 2) we are on tank water which we have been running off empty for about 6 months now and we just got a second tank connected a few weeks ago as well as guttering on our shed and guess what.... Our tanks were overflowing for days!! We could of filled 3 or 4 tanks at that rate!! So I am very happy about the rain!! :-D

@solarventi, Hi, sorry, I didnt work it correctly, It is an interesting concept, but I am not getting it>>> bit slow... How do you heat up in winter in Vic when we get very little sun and the weather has turned Artic this year, Main reason I am noticing the cold, especially when working outside. I do have low blood pressure so feel the cold, but the red clothing next to skin works a charm. I would like to understand... I have seen on uTube where they DIY passive heat I liked the pictures but no explanation and these were using exisiting windows .. I this with gap at bottom on outside so cold air comes in and gap at top on inside so warm air into house.... but got to technical for me. And I get confused, as hot air rises and I dont understand why fans are at the top in newer models not at bottom [of heaters] But I would mind understanding how it works.. Am going to check the website, TU very much. I have bats to put in kitchen reno but would like something to attach to the corrogated iron so there is no gap between iron and bats. Appreciate your help and will check again on your site to see if I missed anything :)

adding some extra living space at the side will take away from the lovely courtyard and would not create the occasional guest bedroom that's already available with Siriusky's sliding door partitions in the living area but a loft over the kitchen could add an additional bedroom overlooking the garden and you haven't mentioned if there is rear car access into the yard and if so the option for a carport and or "studio bedroom" at th rear could also be a very cost effective means of adding extra space.....always subject to council regulations and dimensions btw if the kitchen cabinets are in good condition they can be reconfigured with sections having a deeper counter (with void at the back ) to allow for extra depth needed for DW etc and the shallow cabinets can still be a useful space savers in smaller kitchen with a new counter to suit the new arrangements