Hi Suzanne The key is to do all your design, building permit drawings, an excellent specifications, ordering of some appliances (not necessarily delivered) and "timing in" a Builder well before you start any physical building work. By the way if you are removing walls downstairs and upstairs you are doing structural work - depending on how the roof and the walls are supported. You can take various process in your approach but a good design is always the key - this means that before you begin your Building Permit drawings you are holding in your hand a design that you can feel in you "gut" that you are very happy with - "you" means all stakeholders in the project. To achieve this it takes time - it is difficult to do one concept of a design and built your first draft, I have found from past experience that it takes about three goes at concept designs to eventually distill a good Sketch Plan - or final idea. If you allow some time to measure up and do the initial existing conditions and then some discussion and eventually produce the first concept, then meetings and discussion to revise and change things, then also allow for daily events three to six months will easily pass. Then you may need planning permit - depending on local planning laws - (Council may tell you six to eight weeks but six to eight months may be more realistic especially if you are in any sensitive council) and hoping you get no objections - considering that yours appears to be internal work it may not apply - unless you change or put in a new window or do any external work - again depending on local town planning regulations. Then Building permits Drawings and consultants (if any), a good eight to ten weeks and then instructing and employment of a Builder - Builders are not necessarily ready to build on your timing - so you may have to wait before he/she can start on your job. So when you allow for family commitments which always take priority, and work commitments that must come first, eighteen months to three years (if planning with objections) from start to build may be a good estimate. Then the building process which may take six to nine months and you will get to eighteen months to over three years. Any competent Building Designer, Drafts-person, Architect can and do produce the required documents and administer the contract if required. - it just depends how much you are willing to invest in the process. An Architect may charge 10% to 15% or more of the FINAL building cost - so if you are going to spend $3000,000.00 he would get $30,000.00 to $45,000.00 or more, not including payments to consultants and authorities which are generally excluded from design fees. If you stage the process - get a good design done by a Building Designer that works on a fixed fee, and then you may get a drafts-person that specializes only in working drawings to do you Building Permit documents - (or the same Building designer if you are happy with the process) and get a good Builder and do your own contract administration - you can do this if you worked with your Building Designer thorough the design and working drawing, your cost for the whole design process may be quite different. You will be confident enough to administer your own contract if you have good drawings which are well detailed and have followed the design process throughout - Good complete, competent, well detailed, well specified and with accurate finishing schedules documents is the key. This is what the Builder uses to build - if he has to wait six weeks because you did not make up your mind on and appliance or tile selection, the process would fall over and you cost will dramatically increase. To a Builder the more the omission and changes = More waste of time and more cost to the client. The longest and most difficult stage is to get a good concept and sketch design before moving on to the other stages, give yourself time - if you go fast and don't follow the process and give it to "some expert" to do the whole process and you become a bystander paying the "money" the result could be painful. As you can see there are a lot of factors - ring somebody up (use skype if there is as distance issue) , find a Building Designer you can work with and have a chat. 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

having a broken ankle made me so much more aware of the restrictions on elderley, disabled and temporarily indisposed in most bathrooms so, when planning our new bathrooms we made sure that the doorways were wide enough for wheelchair access, the toilets are installed a little higher to make sitting and standing easier, entry to the shower and access around the toilet are "drive in" The toilets and shower have proper grab rails installed during construction, not as an afterthought, we have straight grab rails installed as towel rails, 30mm square and rectangular textured tiles as a non slip floor, a fold up seat in the shower, a proper chair to sit and dry your toes and help during dressing, controlled temperature hot water, adjustable spray shower heads and hand held adjustable spray (separate to the overhead shower not attached to slip down rails) the vanity and toilets are wall hung for easier cleaning and the space under the vanity is a handy place for a waste bin and slippers out of the way, all medicines are stored in a shallow wall hung medicine cabinet and there's good lighting, overhead heater with fan, underfloor tile heating and all taps are rounded to prevent accidental cuts and bruises on old flesh...the two things to regret are: we installed a walk in hydrotherapy bath that could have waited until really necessary because we have no traditional bath in the house for little kids and we couldn't find a soap dish without sharp edges so that gap is waiting for the new styles to be released...btw all the details about grab rails heights etc are readily available on Google but can't remember which specific sites we used

I put a really good resource together for my mid-century clients which I am happy to share with your for some inspiration. Go to my Pinterest board "Aussie MCM exteriors": https://www.pinterest.com.au/secretdesign/aussie-mcm-exteriors/ If you need excellent advice from a designer who specializes in the mid-century style feel free to see the client reviews on my Houzz profile and contact me directly. I currently service Melbourne and Sydney metro areas with my "Dr Retro House Call" service and can service other cities and regional areas with my Skype consultation service. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

EVERYTHING looks 50 years old . I'd be tempted to rip out the front fence , the shrub/trees , the sloping pathway , the wrought iron , the carport , the gate to the left , probably the boundary fences , and start again . Even the lawn looks like cows have grazed there for 50 years -- if you have the budget , get readylawn laid , or hire a rotary hoe and have a go yourself with grass seed . Do some modern gardens along under the windows , maybe rock or bark as a base , leafy green plants , brown grasses , yellow leaved plants , red plants that aren't roses ( cause they are more than 50 years old ! ) . Do some charcoal fences around the sides , pretty much whatever you want along the front . Maybe the standard white picket fence -- still works , pretty cheap . The think , what is one thing to give a Wow -- a point of difference ? Thats where you get creative . Maybe a modern sculpture , maybe a willow tree , maybe a water feature . NOT a bird bath , or a frame or arch with a climbing rose . Please don't do them .