Just to confirm I have taken the great ideas presented here as advice only and have no intention to do some dodgy diy reno's. With the exception of a couple of quirky exposed timbers as you can see in my pictures there are no other exposed beams. As you can also see from the pictures there is a large roof space on the right (east) side of the house but the ceilings themselves are flat with a slight dip on the north wall. Based on my own personal experiences I would have to agree with Two's Company that there is a tendency towards rendered brick in WA (although there are still many exposed brick houses in my suburb) while double enclosed double garages are also highly desirable. I would also agree that toilets within the main bathroom and non traditional laundries may be considered unusual by many (but not all). Ensuites with toilets however are still very common. Also due to the nature of our work we would prefer the laundry separated from food/kitchen area. For a 4x2 house it is only around 155m2 excluding carport/alfresco which makes the rooms feel quite cramped, hence the desire to open up the family room. However, as Two's Company suggests we will need to first get a builder/eng in to check load bearing walls etc as this will undoubtedly affect what we can achieve within our budget. Having said that I still excited by many of your ideas and with luck hopefully can work some of them into the budget. Cheers all :)

Hi laddie93 It might be helpful to first establish the style of bathroom you want to create. You can do this by taking into consideration the style, age and location of the home in combination with styles that appeal to you. This might help you design a bathroom that you will personally love but also fit well with the rest of the home. Then look for colours to compliment that style, you can include textures and materials too. Compile these ideas into a design mood board and colour palette for the room. By having an idea of the overall style and colour pallet, you will find making the choice of individual items will become easier. Remember to also enjoy the design process, get creative! Exploring finished rooms on Houzz might also help guide and inspire you. If you're looking for extra reassurance on your individual choices, you can involve others by showing them the look you're after and if they think your individual choices will help you create the look you're going for.

I think the windows date the house moreso than the gutters . As Julie says , go dark for those , the rest falls into place . You could do a light gutter/trim ( any off-white -- I like surfmist as it has a bluish tinge ) with the darker roof and windows , or keep it dark like Monument . I love bright sunny front doors , but here it isn't seen until you get to within 2 metres , so IMO its less impactful . BUT the door that is noticed is the garage -- so my combo here would be Surfmist , with Monument gutters and windows -- it breaks it up . Monument on the garage would be too heavy , and red, Yellow or Orange would be too much with the bricks , not a fan of Blue or Green with thjose bricks either . One other combo though , more expensive , would be the lighter trim ( Surfmist gutters and even windows ) with a cedar or Jarrah or similar wooden garage tilt or sectional door -- it's hard to tell in the photo , but the existing door looks like it may be starting to 'swell' a bit in the middle ? If it is , thats the logical fix -- add class and upgrade it and bring in the warmth of wood .

The thing that has concerned me is that unless you enter through the front door and along the passageway past the bedrooms, you have to cross either of the two sunken rooms, ie; Media, living which I don't think is ideal, it would be magic if the Media was an internal garden courtyard. The following is just another idea that might help improve access into the kitchen family. the WIP between the Bar and kitchen would work for guests arriving into the house, in the evening via the living room and stopping in the Bar or during the day continuing to the kitchen family. The WIP could have a sink and DW which would service both kitchen and Bar. Another sink in the island and possibly another DW. The Bar could have a tall table with bar stools Whatever you do in the rear part of the house you will need new flooring to tie it all together Exciting times having a new home, once you have access you can work out how the spaces function and flow for you and the family