Hi Sophie, I immediately agree with the suggestion to remove the angled/chamfered wall to the bedroom entry and create a small lobby, although a good alternative is to consider a straight-run stair and adding a corridor wall to create a 'private' zone - then toilet can stay where it is, tucked in under stair, and privacy (and acoustic/smell separation to the toilet) is created for living and master bedroom. This might mean widening the kitchen room by 100mm or so (noting some reductions mentioned below) and mirroring the bathroom/rumpus arrangement upstairs - it does create a bit more circulation but adds a lovely sense of space when don't have your main circulation through the middle of a room. The laundry pantry is not the usual arrangement - and the distance needed to travel to the linen cupboard is excessive. I would definitely flip the arrangement of laundry /pantry and try to turn the linen into some kind of study nook off the new corridor - and get rid of the tiny desk near the front door!! Imagine that lovely living space with light coming in from the porch which is facing north. That brings up the final comment that north is where the garage is and the main kitchen is therefore south-east facing, this is fine for morning but it is darker for the afternoons. This is a bit harder to change, but the kitchen could be reworked to turn through 90 degrees to face the garden but extend across to the west facade to allow afternoon light in. The nook could be deleted (which blocks afternoon light to deck) and the deck could extend or wrap around the corner for afternoon light. A little corner of deck in the afternoon sun you would never regret! Your draftie designer would need to look at this in detail as the west external wall would might need to shift inwards and south widen into garden, but if afternoon light is important to you then I would encourage you to consider this change too.

Pick a colour that you like, would be great to see a picture

Hi there, Your couches are gorgeous. Just quickly, I’d swap the dining table and two single yellow arm chairs. Then I’d rotate the table 90 degrees if possible. I think if I were going to make any furniture purchases I would first replace all the dark furniture (dining table and bench seats) with white furniture to help bounce some light around. Dark furniture absorbs light like crazy. Thoughts on the kitchen reno would be to keep the bench top and splashback white and then accent with yellow and black. Timber usually softens and warms a space so maybe something like that for the cabinetry but timber isn’t the only finish to provide that feel. This leads into my next thought that white, black and deep yellow can appear quite harsh so maybe some some soft furnishings like some fluffy pillows and rug and a couple of throws might help bring some gentleness and cosy-ness into the space. All the best with it and love to see what you do with the space.

a cheap Indian style patterned rug would be excellent as long as it's big enough to include the chairs when pulled out but will you use the hand basin next to the window as it would be good to be able to screen that from view and a deep waist height cabinet against the left wall and full length curtains to match the tones in the rug would be great with some oversized plants and a table runner and low bowl on the table