Dee, if resale is important to you - as in you are planning to sell in the next 5 years, then I would attend as many open houses in your immediate area as you can before you decide all this and just gauge what other homes have and the prices they want for them. You also need to ensure you keep everything in proportion with the rest of your house. If your living areas are not spacious for example, having a very sumptuous master bedroom suite will be totally out of proportion with the rest of the house and not necessarily attractive to buyers. If you are planning on staying in the house for a good length of time - at least 10 years - then forget it, do what you want to make your home comfortable for you. I never cease to be amazed at the renovations and alterations people do after paying top dollars for a home. If you personally have no need for two bathrooms, then maybe accessing the main bathroom from the master bedroom is a good way to go, it depends on your needs regarding the other 3 bedrooms. Is one of the other bedrooms large enough to put a powder room into and still have good space for a bedroom or office. That would give you an extra toilet at least. Does your laundry have room for a shower to add extra amenities that way.

Kerlite and Maximum are the only two that spring to mind at the moment.

Hi maryprior892 Thanks for posting the extra information it all helps in gaining some understanding, I think it is possible to improve this existing house in a cost effective manner. Just a minor item that I picked up in regards of equipment - I think you mentioned that the existing STORAGE is actually a covered internal courtyard - I also notice that you have a hot water unit in this space - you should check that the hot-water service (if it is a gas unit) that it has sufficient ventilation and is not an external units that has been closed in - any plumber will give you this information - enclosing gas units that are designed for external use is not a good idea. I think that if you are going to make changes it not only should suit you, but also have a good resale opportunity - considering your upstairs areas it might be better to add a decent En-suite and walk in robes and getting two or three bedrooms downstairs - in this way you would have parents areas separated from children - this might have better resale and use that a tiny ES. The third bedroom downstairs could be gained by enclosing the RUMPUS room and providing access to bathroom areas by a corridor to existing bathrooms. This would also aid in getting containment areas for heating - at the moment the plan shows one open space including the upstairs - lots of heating in winter in Tasmania for all that area - some compartmentalization would probably help in combating yearly heating costs. The existing living area are certainly ample, so the loss of the rumpus to a bedroom does not detract greatly to the overall house, and in the meantime you could use the new downstairs bedroom/rumpus room as you have already mentioned as a library. I think this is achievable, but before doing a physical change, I would have a fully developed plan which includes all existing and proposed furniture to scale, with a few 3D views to enhance the concept. (It easier to change drawings than walls - a lot less dust and much cheaper) I would then obtain the opinion of a Real-estate agent (the Real-estate agent you bought it from is not a bad place to start) and maybe two others. This might help in making long term decisions in regards to investment for the future. Staging your proposed renovations is also another approach that you might investigate. Above all I would retain and obtain as many ocean views that you can possibly get, I assume that the ocean views are at the front of the house (" revealed an open fireplace in the front lounge which also has ocean views so that is fabulous.") If possible you might consider developing an external eating/sitting/entertaining area with ocean views - I certainly would be a buyer, and I would assume that it might be supported by the real-estate agent. I hope this is of some help, I would be happy to comment further on this design as more information becomes available. Michael Manias Manias Associates Building Associates mm407p@gmail.com

For the best tropical effect - nothings beats Monsteras - lots of them - overlapping, Consider a travellers palm in the background (they can grow very large) - the above options will result in little if any leaf litter into the pool. If you put in some large monsteras - I would suggest a few smaller ones as well to create variation and make it look more natural. The above plants are relatively slow growing and will only require dead frond removal (at ground level) a couple of times a year. Ferns would look great in between (or Taro) but they grow faster and more maintenance is required. Either a good ground cover, or thick black plastic between the plants with a good thick layer of stones/ wood chips or similar. beware of anything too light which may blow into the pool during a storm. Below ground retic is always the best - but sometimes its nice to have a spray onto the leaves (perhaps a separate system) if you want to simulate the tropical rainforest thing whilst lounging in the pool at night.