My parents have a covered south facing alfresco in Perth. It's great in summer. In winter, they use a paved and pergolaed (with deciduous vines) area further from the house that gets full sun. Consider losing the bay windows. They will be unbearable in summer. Or push the eaves out, or plant some deciduous trees in the front. I would shift the rumpus room to where the laundry is. Give it a view. Also, it's probably where you'll end up sitting on hot summer days, as your formal lounge will still get a lot of heat. Consider shifting the master to the righthand side of the plan. You could get a lovely triple aspect (north, east and south) bedroom. You could have double doors that open onto a private seating area too. Put the laundry where the master is.

Hi Do you need four bedrooms? If not, turn main bedroom into a kids room. Turn the lounge into main bedroom with en-suite, knock down the wall between the kitchen and the bedroom at the back of the house and then create one big open plan kitchen living dining across the back of the house. I envisage you would need to knock out the back wall of the house and add some square footage to get the space you would desire. You could also build a patio across the back with stacking sliding doors to create a beautiful indoor/outdoor living space that overlooks the pool. Good luck!!

oklouise, your drawing is so good! I see what you and others have mentioned about how incorporating flow is really important, somehow even just looking at your plan makes me feel like it would be a calming space. Thank you for creating it. Do you think it would work to move the guest room alongside the sitting? So they would sit side by side (similar to bed 2 & 3) and would both be entered via the entryway hallway at the front of the house. Both rooms would then also have north facing windows. If this were possible, could the master then slide down and occupy what was the guest room, and thereby leaving the original alfresco where it was? I'm hearing that a covered alfresco joined to the house is not too popular on this thread but its something we are quite attached to (for better or worse!). Do you think that could work? There are so many good elements to your drawing but I really do like the entryway/garage/mudroom intersection. For me I would probably swap the study and the laundry around, and we definitely will be installing a outdoor clotheslines too. The drying room would mainly be used on rainy days and overnight. Overnight as we have bats in the area.... some days I get to clean up after all three Bs - bat, bird and baby...

The second option has a toilet blocking the hallway?? If that was removed people could easily access the toilet opposite the laundry. And the activity room is a passageway - just a maze of doors and openings so virtually no use at all. And no bath tub in a house that large? Maybe nobody in your family uses a bath but I think when it comes time to sell you'll find that a huge negative for buyers. I do like a big scullery and a smaller kitchen, but I take OKL's point that it's unusual and, again, it might be a negative when reselling even if you prefer it that way. OKL's design is excellent. Your third toilet is easily accessible from outside, which is a big bonus. The bathroom offers privacy for multiple users at once but everything is together, which is much better than having the toilet a long way from the shower. And she has put a bath in. There is a nice study nook close to the kitchen for easy supervision of children doing homework. And the kitchen is family-friendly. Plenty of storage space and the scullery opening to the alfresco will make entertaining easy. No wasted space. I think it's a great design.