Dear Sophia, I have read your post very carefully and become interested to advise you about flooring. I am a professional flooring consultant. I recommend you the following options : 1. Waterproof Laminate for whole house as you mentioned you want same flooring in Laundry area too. There are few waterproof laminate in the market and I am happy to help you with that if you need me to do that. 2. Carpet (Solution Dyed Nylon or Triexta) for living, dining, study and bedrooms and Vinyl planks or waterproof laminate for Kitchen and Laundry areas. If you need any further please do not hesitate to contact us via http://www.carpetshoponline.com.au/online-enquiry/

Going in as an owner builder is a false economy. It takes a builder years to develop the relationships with the right subtrades to ensure the project is built to budget and on time. I can fully understand that you are concerned with cost blowouts, so i will let you in on a little secret to help you avoid this trap. Find a builder who charges for quotes. I know this sounds counter intuitive, but here is the upswing. A builder who charges for quotes is legally obliged to give you an accurate quote, will be less likely to lowball you on PS and PC items, and will take the time to audit your plans to ensure there are no issues. Ask in advance to see a sample of their quotes - it should include a full list of inclusions, BoQ Exclusions, and timeline or Gantt chart as min. There are many brilliant builders in Australia offering this service, and i can recommend a number of them in every state in Australia who will give you exemplary service. good luck!

Pay all progress payments in full on the day they are due, ( Immediate transfer on the day ) The builder has trades that must be paid. Be proactive with payments, ask the builder when next payment is due.

And looking again, the rather narrow family room may be a bit hard to furnish, with doors on two sides and missing wall. It seems small compared to dining room and the internal playroom area. It’s the best spot in the house, north facing with views to your garden so you don’t want it to end up as a virtual corridor. Corners are the prime real estate. At the moment they are bedroom 1, bedroom 5, garage and alfresco. Three of those aren’t areas that need an outlook. I’d love to see your sitting area in a corner room with windows on two sides and views of your soon to be delightful garden! Perhaps alfresco where bed five is . Lounge where alfresco is, with double doors to close it off if needed, and maybe bed five where lounge is. I can’t see the plan as I write on my phone so I may be missing something major! Best of luck.