I was also going to suggest that you drive around your area looking at any new builds, who's building them and what Architect/Design firm has been involved. You could introduce yourself to any builders that you felt you might be interested in working with, call the Architect etc to discuss. If you can find locals to do the Job that's a plus, if there are any problems they are on the spot to sort. One of our Houzzers had a very bad experience where the Structural Engineer changed something without consulting anyone which ended up causing a major problem and expensive to boot. As annb has rightly pointed out you don't need to employ the Architect for the complete job as this will be more expensive, if your builder is good at his job he will manage everything with your input. Architects plans can be more detailed/complicated and sometimes there may be the need for the builder to check back with him/her. Big plus is that you are building where you live and are able to keep tabs on how things are going, very exciting time for you and your family

Hi all, I can't seem to reply individually to your comments so here's a general one :) Thanks all for the suggestions and experience-I'm really intrigued by these suggestions of pavilion extensions, those links you attached Kate are super striking! Unfortunately for us we are on a fairly small block of land and one side of the house is a narrow driveway-we looked into building a garage/study on the ground but as we have to be 900mm from the neighbouring fence it was going to be very skinny and just not worth it. I appreciate the thoughts shared on keeping our feet on the ground but as we've two young kids and two dogs (and would love to have chickens again) I'm less and less inclined to give up more of the garden which is what we'd have to do if we extend out. Our verandah roof was done back in the 60's and slopes down and leaks in the rain so hence it needs to be lifted up if we were to build out. Kate, I LOVE your idea of the shed! We actually converted a massive steel shed into a gorgeous shed home when we lived in QLD on a massive rural block of land, loved how easy it was to 'knock' down a wall! :) Sadly we have learned the hard way that trying to save money by hiring a draftsperson that didn't ask us what our budget was has cost us time and money, but I guess in a way I'm grateful as this extra time has given me time to consider building up now instead of out. I'm getting a sense that it will be a lot more expensive to do so so might have to wait another 2-3 years to get re-finance happening. In the meantime we are making some changes to the current set up, slowly adding value and making it more enjoyable to live in :)

Hi Blurock, Great plan! I love that it is so simple....that is a compliment as the KISS principal is often the best! Having said that just a few small comments.... You say the block slopes to the north: I assume you mean down to the north? The length of the eave over hang on the verandah, deck, outside room whatever you call it, can be calculated with the winter and summer sun angles of your geographic position to get the winter sun in and summer sun OUT! I noticed the difference in bed 2 & 3 room sizes: don't know if that is much or a problem but also wondered if the robes could be between the two rooms so robe in both rooms are just inside them making furniture placement easier. In the ensuite I would always have shower away from outside wall so a lovely long window beside loo provides plenty of light and air. But switch loo in line with vanity not backing bedroom: just make room look and feel larger. Please ensure in the kitchen that there is plenty of benching next to the cook top. I know centering it along the wall looks lovely but two little bits of bench are useless: you need at lease 1200 to be useful and around the corner is better than a lovely dead corner of benching where stuff collects. Where you have the beautiful sliding doors opening up the whole wall in lounge dining, you may want to think about a run of window that opens for a little winter fresh air without having to open the doors. This applies in the bedrooms too. Security as well as air will benefit. Oh and I love the east sun/light in the bedrooms! Depending on the amount of land, plant deciduous trees for shade: they are seasonally adjusted to work miracles for solar efficiency! Ie outside all the bedrooms. As to doors to stairs, yes I would put in a door on stairs and one somewhere in the hall to close off bedroom zone. I love cavity sliders as they are gone, hidden, away when not needed but appear at most appropriate times! Good luck.. look forward to seeing pictures of progress! Cheers Margot

Going DA has its disadvantages. - Timing is way against you, unless you have time to kill, its quite a waiting process. - Want to speed it up, I recommend getting a town planner on board, yes they do make a difference, but it will never be as fast as CDC. - DA means opening your plan to neighbours objections. Have anyone ever have the nightmare of a neighbour calling you at 9pm to object to your plan? Just because he overheard someone says that we are going to cut some trees? I got objections to a submission about a family of bird that is going to be homeless when we trim some branches off. Or an acreage neighbour object to your 600sqm lot second storey addition because of privacy issue. They have backyard of 3000sqm with over 20m distance and have privacy issue? Give me a break, the backyard is enough to fit the whole street . Any objections from neighbour means a timestop from council, until they can investigate. - Some applications takes weeks until its 'allocated' to an officer. Meaning, its just sitting there gathering dust. Then its another 2 weeks of notifications. - Council front officers are the 'yes man' they say yes all the time, and all might be possible, with 'just submit it and we'll see' attitude. Once submitted, its 'not possible, and request for change or have it withdrawn'. Got clients slammed me because I refuse to do floorplan 20% over the allowed, they went to see front desk in council and told 'Just submit it and we'll see what we can do'. At the end its still rejected anyway, with cost of $$$ of DA application fee. And the advantages: - Council is the only one who can approve if there is no other way (heritage issue, flood / bushfire) - Council is negotiable to a degree, you just have to prove the merit, and talk in their language. - Council can fight for you against your neighbours objections. Took time, but yes they can be on your side. - Building a duplex with site a bit under the allowed? Three floors when its only allowed 2? Yes it can be done. Just play the game right. - Going with DA code sometimes means a bigger floor space allowed, higher roof, higher ceiling than the code for CDC, sometimes the fight and wait is well worthed. And finally there is the L&E Court. If things goes South, and everyone thinks they are correct, there is the L&E court to settle it. My point is : DA : go fully prepared, you are there to fight for it. CDC : get a good team, and the certifier is just there to certify. It will get done quicker. I am not anti councillors, I actually pity them, they are overworked, understaffed, and get abused in daily. If I can advice my clients to avoid DA and still come up with great result, I would go that path.