I'm sorry to say that I have only negative input also. This floor plan does not look as though the house would flow at all. Have studied Interior Design & have been involved in a lot of house plans, but sorry to say I don't think you will be happy in the long run. You have a Laundry right at your front door. This is where all your visitors will be entering. You have no external door from your laundry , so will you be carrying clothes outside through the house or will be there be a door in the garage to the outside? Bedrooms 3 & 4 need to go through the rumpus room to get to the toilet and bathroom. You dont want bathrooms & toilets to be seen from your front door, its not a good look. Your bedroom quarters should all be grouped together with access to bathroom & toilet, so you dont need to go through other rooms to get to them. Your area of your kitchen and breakfast bar seems to be too narrow if you are intending to have bar stools across there with doors opening out to a deck. If your most beautiful views are along the south & west I would consider flipping the design. Try to get your designer to put all 4 bedrooms, bathroom & toilet on the East side and make that the bedroom wing. Make the rumpus room from the internal garage wall towards the west. Move your balcony from that same point and wrap it around your rumpus room with big bifold doors that open to one side. This will give you the views and entertaining space in & out. Move the laundry door from the front entry to where the cupboard is at the moment. Leave the garage/Laundry door where it is and seen if you could get cupboards for storage along that garage/laundry wall. In your kitchen area I would extend the doors on that balcony out which will give you more room for stools along the breakfast bench. Move your toilet to the back wall of your living room near the stairs. I know that wall is long but your designer should be able to fit in a toilet and basin comfortably and what ever area remains you could either make it into a wet bar for entertaining or inbuilt shelving and cupboards below? or maybe even the piano, which will not be in a walk way now but in nook overlooking the living area; where it can be used on special occasions. I would also do the same with the balcony as below and wrap it around the living room with big bifolds opening to one side which will give you that indoor/outdoor living space especially if you have the wonderful views you say towards the south/west. Get rid of you french doors leading into the living room and open up all the space so it feel airy and roomy. With the toilet gone from where it is, the piano moved and the balcony moved out a little, your walk way is opened up, there will be a better flow into your dining and library areas without walls and obstacles. You will get a much better view out from your kitchen area, (which lets face it is where you will spend a lot of time) as you will be able to see the views to the south and west whilst standing at the sink. Where as it stands now you have a toilet and french doors blocking the view from your kitchen.

ddarroch Thanks for all the great suggestions. Pity indeed about the directions of the sun and view. Can't change the profile of the block only can try to work out the best based on what it is. Very valid points about the heating VS. clerestory windows. We are in the temperate climate region which keeping warm it’s an issue in winter. We have thought about to have low-e glass in the south facing side but looks like we probably need to have double glazing in places like the north facing clerestory windows like you suggest. No ideas how much more double glazing will cost but certainly we need to include a fair amount into our budget. Agree with having a door separating the living from the back of the house like you said. Much better for heating and sound insulation. Again thanks a lot.

Shifting the laundry will create a larger laundry and allow for a 'kids bedroom zone' with better access to bathroom for all 3 minor bedrooms. Place the rumpus where dinning is. This can be separated or use the great sliding wall/door idea. It also allows view from kitchen. I agree with moving the fridge and creating a more open WIP. This also allows for a WI Linen - which could be opened up to the mud room, or even a powder room. I found the front living room to be an awkward size and shape so did a slight rearrange in that area. This gives the Living Room access to the north facing patio/outdoor area, tying all the living spaces together while keeping them seperate.

obviously there are some "professionals" operating to arguably less than professional standards and unfortunately they contribute to the confusion of the value of what we do, and make it harder for you guys to trust us at the time that you actually most needs us. There is also a significant difference between a Pro who knows what their doing properly clarifying/translating information as required throughout the design process, to having the subtleties and complexity dumbed down for the sake of "plain language" that risks misinterpretation and underestimation of what's involved. I completely agree, it's often made way harder than it needs to be, and I think again it's horses for courses and certainly there are many professionals who would arguably be best utilised for their skills specifically contained to within the professional industry boundaries, yet others who are naturally better at "bridging the gap" and liaising/working/communicating seamlessly with both the clients and the industry. Unfortunately, to the average punter it's very very difficult to distinguish and gauge these critical key differences between the various Pro's.