Blue Gum floorboards how could it not look beautiful!! and yes wheelchair friendly although if we were in a wheelchair I guess we would have to move closer to town and transport and shops as this house was going to be in the country talking of moving... husband has caved and said we can move to the Bay of Islands whoop whoop! he still wants to go to France for 2 years but he said we could build or buy before we go so that changes the type of house now because we were building near a school and families this will be more a beach house that we can leave for the kids to enjoy and various friends who want it while away so I have swapped the master over to be away from the laundry garage door and hot water heat pump which is quite noisy and the guest rooms now have a Jack and Jill bathroom I haven't changed the footprints at all it's still the same size just changed the layout a little bit The bunk room would have a sliding door outside which means you could access that part of the house privately without coming through the front door or the bunk room could be a small kitchenette /come dining room / come lounge room (very small ) and rent it out as a 1 bedroom self contained apartment Once we live there full time ... will upload a photo in the next Post

Gorgeous brick pavers, I love that look for the floor! It has a rustic appearance yet you're right- sophisticated, even an elegance. I think this would suit the feeling I'm wanting for the room, the pine boards have a rustic appearance, this would go well with them. We have a 1m square oak table with cross back chairs for the dining section and a La Spezia 3 light pendant (Beacon), farmhouse sink, timber hood cover to give you an idea of the look we're going for. Thanks very much for your thoughts on this. I like the idea you're going with, but yes, we have the window and door in already. Door could be trimmed if necessary. It wasn't until the window was already made and the wall sheets and cladding was removed that we realised the original kitchen layout had the back door next to the window, and the door into the laundry section was a modification. I most likely would have put it back where it was originally or had double doors. It made no logical sense for the back door to be a thoroughfare through the laundry, eliminating valuable storage space. I may have just left the kitchen in the original layout and made an entry into the laundry from the kitchen side for a laundry/butler's pantry with fridge in there. Removed the side window for more wall space for storage and changed the existing door to a window. But it's too late now, the outside of the house has all been newly clad so doors and windows are as is. There's no other possible place in the house for a laundry. It is a very tight space. Plan to build an external laundry studio in the future. The one in the house would be temporary, yet need it to accommodate a washer dryer combo for now, and be suitable for prospective buyers/renters in future if the external laundry doesn't eventuate. This is the original 1960's floor plan. A previous owner made internal access into the laundry and made bench space where the original back door was, the next owners opened up the living to dining room and blocked up the hallway doorway which became the fridge space. The cornice didn't match up in the hallway though where the old doorway was. They had made a shelf from the cut out on the hallway side, and the protruding section in the kitchen side became a kind of bulkhead for the fridge. Old hallway We've rebuilt this so that it could have an upper cabinet on the kitchen side/ hallway later if needed. But the lack of space in the hallway didn't allow us to build a linen cupboard, so that will also be needed to be included somewhere in the house. At this stage, thinking we will have to configure the laundry space to have a linen cupboard/ broom cupboard between the dining room and laundry section. Open to ideas too for storage in that limited laundry area space. I'll add more measurements to the floor plan for reference.

I would re-evaluate my brief, my budget and my site. It is another case of trying to squeeze too many rooms into too small a space and compromising the living space. If you draw furniture to scale in your living room then you will see that it is undersized for a four bedroom home. With the best orientation going to the garage door and bedroom 4 I would look at a complete redesign by pushing some of the bedrooms to the rear, and a central courtyard to give you an opportunity for north facing light to a living room. There is nothing nice about the current design and will feel like an apartment with little resale appeal. The designer has shown no flair or imagination in this "gun-barrel" floorplan, and is a variation on a concept that has been around for centuries. But your biggest problem is the number of rooms. Do you really need 4 bedrooms plus a study and 2.5 bathrooms, a long wasteful hallway, and only one modestly sized open plan living area and kitchen on a narrow block? I would start again with a smaller brief and a designer who can challenge your thinking about what good small house design actually means. Small house design is the hardest to do really well, so don't use a large house designer. Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits

I'm no expert but just my thoughts if it was my house - The bedrooms are on the small side, so perhaps think about how they will be used - do your children need space to play or do homework in their rooms? Is the 4th bedroom for guests or will it be used as a home office? In bedrooms 2 and 3 the beds are below the window - are the windows high enough to allow a bedhead/to not lay down with your head against the window? What will be in the main bathroom - shower, bath, single/double vanity? What are you thinking layout wise? I'm confused by the kitchen, especially the pantry access given the corners are blocked by other benches - is it meant to be a walk in pantry or just normal cupboards? The hall is long and narrow and you need to go past all the bedrooms before you get to the living space. Not sure how well this will work, but I've only lived in places where the entry is adjacent to living space. Love the idea of having a separate self contained space for your parents - as others have said bathroom is too far from either bedroom, and the entry near bedroom could be an issue.