Good going Dale Alcock Homes, just gone through the same sort of renovation with my personal residence in North Perth. And now onto Landscaping the front and back yards using our staff to install French Potager style outdoor spaces.

Hi Kat your house reminds me of our first single front Federation, it had one main room (bedroom) at the front that went to the boundary, set back on the other side was the entry to a narrow entrance the width of the front room, on the right were double glass doors which opened into the living room with fireplace on the left and a beautiful large leadlight window on the right which you looked at the neighbours brick wall of their house approx 1 m away. Then behind this room there was another large room dining/family which had French doors opening onto the narrow side access to the rear of the house. (neighbours wall) In the rear space of the house was a bathroom and a galley shaped kitchen on the left side with the square space cornered by both the kitchen and dining room a covered in Verandah which became the only other bedroom. The toilet was out the back. So I think your house started out in a similar layout, except unlike us you had a long passage to access your rooms where as we had to walk through two of our rooms to access the kitchen etc. Definately think that your now ensuite was a verandah and the room behind that possibly an enclosed Verandah (fixed walls on the lower level with windows above, the lower walls would not have been lined) which would have been as you said laundry etc, I wonder where the original bathroom was Would be good to check with council to see how it looked when first built. cheers

Hi Sarah, hope you enjoyed your travels last night, that's something we have spent our lives doing plus living in different countries. Do look into the attic room/s they are lovely and the Velux skylights very unobtrusive, look great and if positioned correctly take care of venting any hot air, as I mentioned ours were pivoting ones and could be locked open in several positions. I much prefer these to dormer windows, you don't really notice them. The stairs were built off site and lifted into position and installed, built in. At the time we did ours a very good friend a builder did the same but just completely opened the whole ceiling space right out towards the gutters into a large bedroom play study area for his daughters, also using Velux windows. Glass ceilings, like Velux windows have been around for years, believe me I know, we're both getting older. Velux windows can be used as glass ceilings in opening and non opening configurations. I would love to see you keep the outdoor loo as well and updating the old shed into a new connecting space to the house, perhaps a glass breezeway. I will have another look at your plan again over the weekend. I love your front iron gate as well, auto sliding driveway gates work really well and would really fit with your carport. My brother in law put in a tall timber sliding gate at his last home, lovely cheers

Alison, OK there's a fair bit there to work through and digest. You've clearly got a plan in mind, however how that stacks up practically against the numbers is the question. The thing is $700K seems like a lot/healthy amount for a renovation. It may or may not be depending upon the solution and how far it needs to be distributed over existing house and developed/extended areas. Right out of the gate I'd suggest that if you're spending that much then arguably the garage is smack bang in the wrong position, and needs to be moved, which adds something else/more cost into the equation. You don't want to be working a design around a poorly positioned garage unless that's the only option for it. When you go up a level yes it costs more but the question here would be exactly would be best positioned upstairs. Would it be kids zone or Master Zone? When it comes to staging projects then bear in mind you pay a premium for this and it never is the cheaper way to go. Think an additional 30% give or take for breaking it up into smaller scope projects and increasing costs over time. You may find that your 700K project in one bite equates to a $1M project in two stages over 5 years. Its ALWAYS better to do as much as possible as soon as possible for a long term investment scenario. It also is one thing to stage a clean rear extension without changing much of existing vs an upper level extension that is invasive in nature and requires essentially comprehensive lower level renovation at the same time to achieve. Then there is the cleaner 2 story rear extension that may avoid going over existing, but might look a little unbalanced and be less ideal in regards to overshadowing to your outdoor areas. Lots and lots to consider and weigh up here. There are really no easy quick answers here. To get closer to the answers you seek, practically you require the services of a design professional who is particularly experienced in renovation/extension scenarios to assist you who can provide not only options but also has the capacity to apply associated and accurate cost projections on these options. Without costings, any "option" is pretty useless as an isolated idea. Yes it's a possibility, but it's only half of the picture. This is exactly what we do as a first step of service, what we call a "Feasibility Stage" to help people work through these types of situations, so the client can properly understand the both the design and relative cost consequences simultaneously across some alternative/various options (say single level vs two level, single stage vs 2 stage, "ideal/dream" scenario vs more "conservative/scope reduced scenario). You require the accurate information to be able to move forward with the type of decision-making. Any design ideas without any form of associated cost information, are arguably random/arbitrary and I'd suggest little use if not potentially misleading. In order to be appropriately rationalised, you need costings coupled with a specific design solution, considered in context, with understanding of any relevant existing planning or contextual constraints or features. There is always then the possibility of prioritising of say size over quality, in that if you can possibly keep a lid on finishes for the sake of getting more space, then the budget can be theoretically stretched to cover more space. It's always a balancing act between various elements. There will be numerous ways to achieve this, but what the best option for you will come down to your personal priorities, which of course will be influenced by your financial options and capacity. It also depends on how you'd be going about the project, whether you'd be doing a DIY aspect or whether it was fully contracted to builder and required financing etc......all things that will influence what is and isn't possible. I know I haven't given you any clear answers, but my best advice would be invest in some professional service form a local architect or experienced building designer. Best of luck PD :) www.pauldistefanodesign.com