Heating and cooling: I suggest insulation is a necessity. We have a log fire in our lounge room, but one has to sit quite close to it to get any benefit from it. I usually have a throw rug, plus a cat on my lap, and often one next to me. The heat rises , so your upstairs area will often be toasty warm, but the downstairs area will be cold. In Sydney, depending on if you are coastal or further inland, it may or may not be a problem. Consider something like underfloor heating, perhaps? That is what we are going to look at when we renovate. Or, you could try a ceiling fan which is designed to blow the warm air down - depending on the size of your void, you may need more than one. I have a fan, but I am not convinced it does much.

I want to become an IDstudent for multiple reasons. I recently finished high school and during my final two years I did ATAR hoping to get into Uni for interior design... but then I messaged the owner or 31 interiors (A past student of the interior design institute). She told me that she didn’t go to University or tafe and instead did the interior design institute online course. After hearing her recommomdation I quickly looked up the course and fell in love with the structure of it, and how detailed it was. When searching for a uni/tafe it is very hard to understand what is actually included in the course and what you will be learning, however with IDI the whole course was laid out and it had everything I wanted to learn about before becoming an interior designer, in extreme detail. I also love how there are advanced modules, this is essential to expand ones knowledge. I would much prefer working online as I am then also able to maintain my casual job and enjoy time with my family and friends too, while i work towards the career i belong in. I have always loved interior design, most of my family work in careers that are to do with housing. My sisters a painter, my brother in laws an electrician and my dads a carpenter, so i have always been around houses... and I always used to imagine the beautiful interiors that could become of them after my dad has finished putting the roof on top. Youre always pushed as a child to be a mainstream teacher, doctor, lawyer.... but i never fitted into any of those fields, the arts were more my style.... and when I found the interior design institute I felt complete because I knew that was the only pathway I wanted to take to become an interior designer.

Like most of the others , I'd go for white shutters , but there's a few other things too . It looks like someone has 'filled in' the base with similar bricks , not exactly the same and different mortar . Even if it matched , it adds height , but now it just grates . And then the steps are nothing , and the stainless rails and wires are way different style , and then it looks like concrete garden walls around the front that are getting a bit black . And then it looks like a white gate to the left , but its 100mm too long ? Where the 2 brick styles meet , I'd do a plastered 150mm wide 'border' along the length , including the front wall -- protruding maybe 30mm , and then probably plaster/render the lower part too -- make it smooth ! The 'border' I'd paint in crisp white , the lower section could be a beige , maybe a mid-charcoal ? I'd probably do the steps ( or the sides ? ) in the same beige or mid-charcoal or whatever you decide . The white shutters will lift the main parts , the 2 toning of the base with take away some of the bulk .

A downstairs bedroom must be served by a bathroom not just a toilet. Toilets by themselves must have a basin. Toilets need some where to stand when you close the door. There is plenty of wasted space to address these issues. Choice of general layout is your preference, giving consideration to slope of block, view, neighbours, your lifestyle