How many bedrooms? Could you sketch the layout? I think there's a point at which the size and functionality of an en suite makes it debatable whether it is an asset to the property or not. A tiny basin like in the photo and lack of wall space for towels rails is a negative for me. If the house is three bedroom you don't need two baths and you might not need two showers but a separate powder room can be useful when the bathroom is in use or for guests to use without the residents having to move their toiletries and wet towels out of the way. So I was thinking would a two way bathroom including a toilet and a separate powder room enhance the spaciousness without the downside of 'only of one bathroom'? If the house is four bedroom then I think it becomes more important for it to have both a bathroom and an en suite. I agree with georgi02 about clean lines and clever storage to make the most of the space.

Hi Paul In apartments, the killer for layout changes are always drains, then water supply, then load bearing walls. Before you consider doing any changes to the layout, I would advise you to locate the drains (pics would be good) as they will likely restrict you. The drains are important for obvious reasons but also important is the fall (ie downward slope) of any drain you wish to install in a separate location. It means you have to take into account more height the further away from the existing drain you go. It is likely that your existing laundry trough/basin has a drain going down to the floor, and this is going to interfere with the proposed ensuite entry location. Ditto if it is going into the wall. The big one is the new shower. It will need to have a 50mm waste (drain) in the centre of where your washing machine now is.... and the question is where is it going to go.... I would suggest swapping the vanity and shower over to access the existing trough waste if it is large enough. In a lot of these older apartment buildings, the waste sizes are down at 38mm, which is not going to drain fast enough for a shower. If your existing waste is that size, you will need to have a hob to the shower as it will fill up, and you will also need to check health regs to see if it is allowed in your state. To get the drain for the new ensuite vanity and new laundrette sorted, I would punch through the new kitchen wall and run drainage along the wall behind the new cupboards and around to the existing kitchen sink waste. This will give you plenty of fall and a place to hide the pipes. For the new basin to the existing, you will need to see if you can get it around to the existing basin waste in the bathroom adjacent by running it around and under the bath. Cheers

Kate: - I like the idea of a door at both ends of the new central bedroom doorway - maybe some kind of thin sliding door or a foldable shutter door might be best? - house can’t be knocked down/rebuilt due to location in a heritage conservation area OkLouise: - thanks again for doing this - I’ve loved all of your updates, they are so well thought out and hope to incorporate them all into the build - will send you a token of appreciation when the build is finished! - we have already been thinking about whether to rotate the kitchen island 90 degrees as you have drawn - i think it might look weird? but i’m not sure - theres a lot for us to process with your new updates so we'll need to spend some time thinking about them! - i’m resistant to reducing the size of study 2 as that’s the most important room for me as i will spend a lot of time there and it is doubling as a work productivity office/man cave so really want that room to be fantastic! - i thought the laundry chute was above the laundry but will need to ask the architect Siriuskey - I also think there may be too many bathrooms in the house - due to the good location of the property i think it is hard (within reason) to overcapitalise on the property so believe it will grow well in value in the long run so would rather overdo it than underdo it - FWIW the other houses in the street/adjacent streets are kind of similar to our proposed plan so its not out of keeping with the area - am still wondering about combining the downstairs powder room/adjacent en suite into one big bathroom for a bath - variable number of family members staying but 4 to 11 over 3 generations at various times of the year - the plan for the mudroom is for it to be the entrance into the house that we use most so it can also act as a cloak room too so that’s why its not near the laundry - i don’t want a lift in the house as it seems unnecessary for our needs and fi we ever ended up in a situation where we needed a lift we would just sell and downsize Dreamer: - i think we (parents) might end up living downstairs when the kids get older/noisier - they are in primary school currently Pleased to Bijou design - point taken about number of bathrooms - i don’t really have a good answer Paul Di Stafano & Dr Retro - i can sense and empathise with your professional frustrations :) - thanks for the good luck wishes, I agree we’ll need it - fortunately I’m a lifelong/relentless optimist and things always seem to work out ok in the end (and if they don’t, I’ll take it as a positive learning experience) - thanks for the insights into dodgy busy practice business models mummagabz - thanks for comment about small robes - will look into making them larger

Here is my finished ensuite. 1.8 x 1.8 m bathroom. it works well as a layout. the shower is 900x 900mm. the vanity is about 280mm deep and the sink hangs over the edge a bit (if that makes sense!). the shower door is 550mm wide. i havent yet had the towel rail installed but when i do it will be on the left hand side wall. thank you everyone for all your advice and suggestions.