We lived in the US for 20 years. My husband is a builder.Happy to ask him.

Under the stairs is the perfect spot for me, just far enough away from the front door and the "squeeze" when the door is opened etc. Laundry, I prefer not to take my washing through the kitchen, Doors take up usable space in small spaces I don't know where you planned the clothes line or how wide it is at the side, but by changing the access from the kitchen to Alfresco could be your solution or adding external doors to the Media room which is now open to the passageway laundry when not being used for movies would work for me

I would suggest Luxury Vinyl Tiles, especially for a kitchen where the floor could get wet.

Thanks Kate. Yes we definitely think an extension for an ensuite and WIR from Bed 4 is the best idea, but hadn’t considered moving the laundry there too. I might have a look at possible layouts for that idea. I think the cupboards along the hall would be a fantastic idea and had even had that idea if we were leaving the main bathroom in place, it would just be a narrower bathroom but still functional due to its length (and with the toilet combined not separate). Moving the bathroom to Bed 3 means reducing to 3 bedrooms (if we don’t enclose downstairs) which we were hoping to avoid. But definitely food for thought. The roofline off the kitchen is rather prohibitive for extending on that side, but also hadn’t thought to convert laundry to office. I had thought about removing it altogether and opening up kitchen that way though.