Hi Leecy, lovely to hear from you and hearty congratulations. No wonder you have been quiet. What a fun time ahead and I'm sure your new addition is going to thoroughly enjoy the attention of his 3 mothers. I can imagine the wonderful feeling of moving into a home that needs no work. It is fun to plan and do the renovations, but there just comes a time in life that freedom is so much more important, especially with babies - you just never get that time back. How far did you get with the renovations? Did you get the kitchen area done at all?? I put my new kitchen in last October while BH was overseas and I had it all to myself, MY decisions MY wants, MY needs. I didn't let on to anyone I was doing it so BH came home to a huge surprise and loved everything - I'm sure mostly because he didn't have to think about it. Everything is in drawers or on pull out shelving so no bending or crawling around the floor, except in the pantry which has all narrow adjustable shelving so the low shelves just have one large item on them making it easy to grab and nothing has to be searched for. All the joeys have been here since then for holidays and it got very high scores of approval. The only problem we have is trying to find things, with cleaning out, there are no hiding places left. Given us lots of laughs at least. Good luck with everything, and don't be a stranger. Sneak peek at part of the kitchen

In my last house, after adding a living room (the area you see this side of the arch) and also updating bathroom etc I couldn't afford to reline the ancient walls in my little lounge (when I removed the purple wallpaper I found a mixmax of boards, gib, pinex, plywood and holes!) so I plastered walls all over with layers and layers of newspaper and wallpaper paste (papier mache), then after applying primer/undercoat I painted with 2 similar colours (rich reds in this case), and stippled the surface with a plastic bag. This made it look just very slightly textured like leather and successfully disguised the uneven surfaces. Gallons of gap filler filled the gaps between the old T&G ceiling boards and evened out the mismatched skirting and scotia. Again white paint on all the trims. Amazing what can be done when you have to make do! This was a great cosy little room! (Before photo is the 3rd one)

you are super-patient!!! :) :) thank you :) I'm so sorry but I do actually have a couple MORE thoughts!! argh! there are just so many different options.... and this is a bit of an all consuming puzzle to try to solve. here they are: 1) study could become main bathroom - leaving new Bed 4 as per plan since it is bigger & a better size for guests. in this option, some area could be stolen from the study to boost ensuite size - even if it just made the ensuite 1 full metre. Ideally not requiring study window to change. 2) WC could potentially be separate either within this space OR at the back of the old kitchen (allowing for the remaining, longish hall wall to be shorter again) oklouise you may think some of these ideas are not very workable & I'd be so glad for your feedback & comment (and anyone else's comments as well), it's really so incredibly helpful - unbelievably helpful - to have everyone's input. i'd love recommendations on which ideas & options might work best for that balance between function & budget

Looking at your proposed changes to kitchen floor plan, and if I'm interpreting it correctly, I think having the cooktop in LH corner of long sink benchtop would be somewhat awkward & hazardous esp having an opening/door into the room right there. I think there needs to be adequate space on BOTH sides of cooktop to allow more elbow room for cooking processes, setting hot pans/pots down, etc., and also need to think more about opening/door placement in this scenario. Will you be replacing the current sink? If so will you have a single or double and with or without drain board? Do you want dishwasher to right or left of sink? Would be good idea to include Euro bins in new cabinetry, and as many drawers as budget will allow. Maybe can include a spice drawer? does your current pantry function well as is?