We have raked ceilings in our new split level extension that follows the fall of the land (and in the rooms that were part of the skillion sections of the old cottage) and I love the sense of space they give and also the fact that the inside reflects what is happening on the outside of the house. We have used ceiling boards (painted white – I didn't want to feel like I was living in a cigar box) both in the old cottage and in the new section and they certainly add an enormous amount of visual interest to the rooms as well. However, I endorse the comments about the added trickiness of light fittings. Pendants with rods are out and pay particular attention to the little rose/canopy thingies that connect pendants to the ceiling – make sure that they sit flush with the ceiling and don't have weird unsightly bits that you can suddenly see because of the angled ceiling. We have successfully used LED downlights with a recessed diffuser and dimmer switches to make sure there is no glare but if the raked angle isn't too extreme they are a definite possibility.

Last piece of advice simonsays - never "assume" anything - more often than not people sorting through this stuff on their own misjudge, either in under or over estimating what's involved, incorrectly thinking that it will be either easier or harder than it actually will be to achieve whatever it is......you need to define your various project requirements/details etc as a starting point, and have clarity on what aspects are more or less important for you. This also must include your budget BEFORE you put pen to paper working through the design solution...so if you want a 2-way fireplace, consider it now, and factor it in within the process of working through the costs (which should be occurring simultaneously.........also, remember that "design" is a process, working towards an outcome, which as always is about resolving project requirements to budget within a particular context/conditions.......the project outcome, whatever that is, will be very much determined by the design process and the extent it is invested in and executed....hope this all helps and best of luck with it all :) PD

siri - re boundary construction it of course depends upon the specific context - the issue in this case is the site fall and being on the high side there could be potential issues of building heights from the NGL on the neighbour's side....my comment was also in respect to considering a terrace structure above a close to boundary structure and complexity that would be thrown up with screening and structural offsets etc.....and this is sometimes worth pursuing where space is tight, however I'm anticipating here there is a fair bit of room to move and I'm guessing (an educated guess based on limited contextual information provided ) that a more cost effective/simpler option on a number of levels will be to (a) keep things off the northern boundary and (b) minimise renovation scope and consider a strategic rear extension that focuses on master bedroom zone and cleaning up the main living zone - if the majority of the existing spaces are retain structurally and limit renovation to cosmetic upgrades then the budget will stretch a lot further but net result is a more valuable property - and a more cost-effective value adding proposal that on paper is more likely to be accepted for finance.........this is always a integrated numbers game/exercise We're working on a job at the moment that we crunched numbers on various options & scope/configurations, but the two "shortlisted" of them were very similar - one slightly more expanded and pushing out to boundaries, the other more tightly disciplined, simpler and deliberately keeping building extension off boundaries. Whilst both of the shortlisted proposals essentially accommodated/covered the client's requirements outcomes, we estimated approx $100K accumulative difference one way or the other........

its ot easy to remove that brick pillar. 1. load bearing 2. power comes through it - i have to cut the concrete floor to chase the power down or need to leave a small post there. 3. would make a big mess knocking down all that brick, attaching new steel beams etc, then it wont match the ceiling and cornice, just too many works with council plans and permits, the cost outweighs the look i believe. i could just cover it with something nice and hang some photos, put a notice board, reminder board etc. to answer the above, only planning to put 2 stools in the island. can we please focus on the design, i mean the drawer and cupboard sizes and its positions, placement etc and lets not discuss more about the pillar. Few things 1. The kick boards are 100mm high as opposed to 150mm to give more space in drawers 2. Cutlery drawers are 100mm high 3. Bottle/spices/plates drawers are 200mm high 4. Pot drawers are 380mm high 5. Fridge over heads are 350mm high i believe any wine/liquor bottle will fit in that height 6. Other overheads are 350mm high and 350mm deep with push open doors 7. kitchen bench to overhead height is 580mm, cooktop to rangehood height is 780 7. total kitchen height is 2400mm 8. pls check the wine rack spacing 9. there is two open shelves under the overheads to put small glasses and some plates for quick access 10. pull out bin near the sink 11. 860mm single bowl sick with add on bowl and drainer etc 12. fully integrated dish washer 13. cupboard next to it 14. microwave and cutlery drawers are in the island opposite to fridge and cooktop 15. push open cupboards under the island where the overhang is. 16. There is not dedicated pantry in the design, my pantry consists of 600mm deep drawers, a bench and 450mm deep over heads, bench to overhead height is 430mm, plan is to put the small appliances in the bench. wife doesnt want it to be closed as she doesnt want another door to open everytime she needs to access a toaster or so, or putting a big door will expose the internals of the cupboard when we access the toaster, in her terms just exposing the appliances by itself is better than exposing everything in the shelf. To summarise i have 100mm high drawers in 2400mm length(cutleries) 200mm high drawers in 7800mm length(spices, places, biscuits, other small bits and pieces) 380mm high drawers in 4500mm length(mostly for pots, pans and other long bottles) 180mm high drawers in 900mm length floor cupboard in 3800 length 350mm high overhead cupboards in 4500mm length 5400mm shelves in the pantry 10000mm bench space.