Hi Yatta, looks like a reno will add function, value, practicality to your home especially needed right now with little people. You need to be able to see the whole are for safety. So I have a string of questions: Which way is north and do you have shade to the windows on the second floor? How many people living there? Do you or your husband like to cook? How often do you shop? What size fridge? Do you bake: would a pantry/ appliance cupboard be ideal for your style of cooking? What rooms are next to the kitchen and are their sizes convenient for your needs? Were you thinking to knock out wall between kitchen and tv space? Do you have visitors for BBQs, parties, house guests, family gatherings: ie how many do you cater for maximum? And dimensions for the rooms. Once we have answers to those and probably more(!) then we can begin to piece together an overall idea of what will suits you and go from there into how to arrange the fittings, fixtures, how the spaces will be used, where things will be stored, how the space will function day to day, week ends or for crowd gatherings! Lots might seem irrelevant but it is not. It is essential to gather heaps of information required to glean the overall running of your home. Happy to help from here. Look at my www for ideas too. Cheers Margot

I'd consider painting the plain walls, brickwork, ceiling and rafters all the same shade of white. It looks like quite a dark room and I think this would make a real difference. Painted brick in interior spaces is pretty forgiving. Are you thinking of replacing the window? It looks like the kind of space where french doors onto a little deck would be nice but that might not work if it opens onto the street. Agree that there are lots of flooring options which wouldmake a big difference to this room. After these changes think about furniture placement and zoning. It looks a bit like everything is pushed against the walls at the moment and this tends to make rooms a bit uninviting I find.

JE C, we are replacing the 2 big windows in the bedrooms in the next month or so, but the 2 smaller ones are the in bathroom. The windows are not my style, but the bathroom is ok so we won’t be remodelling as early as we will be doing the bedrooms. And it’s a good question about going modern vs retaining the existing style. I don’t want to completely lose the uniqueness of the property, but it’s just not very appealing from the roadside, so I can’t help but think we need to radically change and therefore modernise it. The brown slated area has a slab and is about 5 - 6 metres wide and currently houses the rubbish bins! We have considered building another carport there as we can’t use the garage on the other side of the house (it’s too narrow)

are the windows double glazed? white windows with white bricks could look great with black gutters and a light coloured (pale grey?) roof but also paint the window sill tiles black but i wonder if this is an opportunity to consider installing new double glazed windows in at least the major living areas and also review roof insulation to improve thermal comfort