Good on you abstar9511 for choosing to Renovate! I've personally gone through a renovation in the last 18 months and it is worth it. From the pictures the house looks to be in fairly decent nick for a Perth original, especially one by the beach with our salt and winds. If you choose to update the gardens at a later date, Planted Passion is happy to quote on a resilient garden design and installation for your properties' weather/soil/aspect conditions. Personally, I can see a Cottage Garden vibe which would like stunning, especially with the inclusion of some Hedges for beach wind protection. Good luck with the reno!

As a ballpark starting figure use around $1800 - 2000 per square metre. This just a ballpark figure to use as as starting point and can easily vary either side. So for $150k for that size dwelling is only around $600 per square metre...... Contact a local designer (the good ones understand budgets and costings) and start from there. Material and product choices will vary the cost to construct greatly so keep that in mind. Building costs are always increasing not going down.

Jacinta, am very sorry to hear that you've had no luck with your project pursuits......but may I also add your story is unfortunately not too uncommon and it doesn't surprise me...........after doing this for a fair while now may I add a comment or two.....skimming through the post above, a completely underestimated and often overlooked skill required by a design professional, whether categorised as an architect, designer, drafty or whatever is their capacity to manage the client's expectations of what is viable in a certain situation for a certain budget with their experience and knowledge. Yes construction costs have risen, and will continue to do so, and that's nothing new. $350K depending upon what you're doing and where, once upon a time was a healthy budget, but not anymore when you stack up the components. that is not to say that you cannot do anything, but to achieve something you'll need to be working with people who are all over the current construction costs and can help you strategically and logically consolidate your priorities simultaneously within the design/creative process to resolve an appropriate solution. There is always a (creative) solution to a scenario and a way to successfully navigate/negotiate challenges such as council limitations, challenging context, budget or whatever. Honestly, as a designer that's the easy bit, the hard(er) part is managing people in negotiating their particular "wants" and expectations and relative costs. What I understand really gets to people (like you have clearly experienced here ) is the unpleasant surprise and disappointment down the track after investing time and money with a company/designer in believing that you're working towards a feasible outcome when in reality the concept/direction is revealed to be non-viable, stonewalled or beyond budget. To avoid exactly this issue I service the front end of projects very broadly considering hard costed concept scenario options and hence "cutting to the chase" in order to appropriately align project requirements and project budget against the relevant specific contextual backdrop. Very quickly we endeavour get a realistic and accurate handle on whether a particular project direction is going to be viable or not and manage the client's expectations appropriately and fairly with minimal time and investment from their end. Depending upon the client and situation this step of the process initiates recalibration of client expectations (on budget or brief) and identification of what is possible one way or another so moving forward can occur with confidence and efficiency. From experience this has proven to avoid the exact situation you've unfortunately experienced. This should not be a "nightmare", rather it should be an exciting time in the process. At the end of the day it all comes down to money, it is invariably the ultimate controller of the decision-making process and accordingly you need to find and work with people who inherently understand this and can design honestly for you with respect to this factor and your specific needs. I hope this helps in some way and completely understand and sympathise with your situation :)

Hi Suz Before speaking with an engineer, I would recommend you go to your local council (City of Vincent) and get a copy of the existing plans. It will cost you around $50. The age of your new home would suggest there should be copies on file and they will most likely have engineering drawings of the existing property. Engineers don't often do designs. I agree with MB in that work out what you want to do /discuss with a renovation specialist/designer and then speak with an engineer as to how to make it work. Alternatively, there are a number of renovation specialists here in Perth. Do a search here on Houzz and you will see plenty to speak with. Cheers