typical dogs breakfast Queenslander! I would make the entrance into the current bedroom 1 and turn current entrance/lounge into main bedroom with sunroom where current entrance is...nice place to relax with doors open. Then I would knock the wall down between the kitchen and current bedroom 1 to make one large room from front to back and put the kitchen along the wall against current bedroom 4 with long bench with dining area one end and open plan lounge at other end. I would wall off bedroom 4 and only be able to enter it from lounge. another door in lounge to enter remains of bedroom 4 which I would convert to laundry and then entry to bathroom. Block current doors from kitchen into bedroom 1 and bedroom 4/bathroom. Either block door between bedrooms 3 or take wall down to make one big room. Scuttle outdoor bathroom/toilet to make one long outdoor area that opens up from kitchen dining area. Probably put a skylight in kitchen area too.

I love that you're looking to invest in restoring it. I initially would have wondered whether there's still risk of it being bought by developers when you put it on the market again as they may retain the existing home to appease the heritage overlay but build others on the large block, especially if the area if growing in demand. In that case I would recommend keeping it simple, retaining cladding, just doing cosmetic changes plus fresh but inexpensive kitchen & bathroom. However, after reading your follow-up post, it sounds like you're actually going to be doing a lot with it and the integrity & heritage of the home is important to you, so I would do it well to attract a premium buyer, pricing it out of developers' budgets. In that case, avoid aluminium windows - even the more traditional style ones don't look quite right. And windows make such a statement visually so I think it would be ideal to invest in original style ones. My mum just did a renovation on a 1920s Tudor home and the windows that had to be replaced she ended up getting cheaper custom made by a local joinery than by the big Stegbars etc, but she did shop around. Alternatively there are building materials vendors/recyclers that could have good original windows, or even demolition homes listed on gumtree can come up with some great finds providing you're happy to remove yourself. And you need quite a few, I wouldn't worry about not having them identical from room to room which may be an issue finding so many matching, provided all your trims are painted say in a fresh white, they should tie in nicely together. And again, I was originally going to suggest keeping the cladding if you're doing a simple renovate to sell, however seeing all the work you're doing to the rest of the house, I'd be tempted to remove it and uncover the weather boards beneath. A once beautiful double-fronted Victorian house near me (unlike yours it was a complete dump - holes in the floor, had been derelict...) with vinyl cladding was sold last year and the new owners have removed the cladding and there was beautiful and very well preserved brick-pattern weatherboard underneath (I can't remember the name of it, it may not be common in your region). So you could have well preserved weather boards underneath. And if not, if you're both handy (and have trade friends) it is fairly straightforward and relatively inexpensive to replace them. And with your extension you'd want the weatherboards to all tie in too. It may also be easier and cheaper with wiring and insulation/sisalation too? And lastly, just make sure there's lots of light coming into that central lounge room from the adjacent rooms. Those features are amazing! Good luck! I'd love to see the progress photos!

In your climate fly-screened, cross ventilation is crucial and louvred windows are a great way to achieve this. Your kitchen windows are spot on, and an additional fixed, glazed window behind the cooktop will not contribute anything as you already have planty of light. For your butler's pantry I would ensure that you increase the size of the louvred window as much as possible to ensure good cross-ventilation with the southern cool side of the house, which will also make it a nicer space to be in. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

much as i prefer a separate powder room including a handbasin the separate powder room takes up too much space better used for a bigger kitchen and dining area and retain a bigger a master bedroom with modest single bedroom/study ... my stair location doesn't need a full wall and the open stair well allows more light downstairs and a downstairs side entry from an extended carport and easy access to under stair storage ...and i've stolen space off the biggest downstairs bedroom to increase the other bedroom and laundry...hopefully the new indoor stairs could allow you to lose the outdoor stairs and reduce size of new externally screened western windows and enjoy more space in the garden previously needed for the outdoor stairs