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 Harmony, Yes it is getting there! Laundry/kitchen: If I can read the dims my plan will work very well. See if you can follow me here.. left to right dims… l'd 600 bench, 1 m walk, 600 broom & shelf in pantry, 700 depth for 'frige and panty is then 1300, 1200 between benches & 1200 wide island = 2400 along outside wall for DW & sss. This should leave 3600 for meals which is great. Keep chute: get it in the right place! washing then arrives in l'dry. So bench backing garage is where u want bench (sorting) sink (rinse & soak) WM then TD if you need one with bench above. and overhead cupboards to keep the nasties out of kiddies reach. This is the flow of washing from dirty to washed to go outside. The other side backing kitchen is ideal to have some rails to finish off drying or airing, for brought in clean clothes, when ready: fold, stack for kids to take back up stairs. With broom cupboard next to outside door, there are no dead corners! Yippee! Someone put a powder room in here but not needed with the guest bedroom just across the hall. I was trying to make the shower and loo not visible from hall but still accessible from outside. I am sure guests staying of visiting can use this bathroom. Upstairs: I like my layout for ensuite: robe first putting distance between bathroom and bed. Window in robe I mentioned, so you can find sox without light, also lovely to open up for fresh air blast every now then. Looking along vanity to bath and to window. I do like the separate room for loo please with a window. Again not sure of dims but sure it will fit. Bathroom is tope with three people able to use it at once and each area with light and air. Doesn't matter with linen store. to have light and air. This looks to me like a lot of house to clean but a forever home to enjoy entertaining as kiddies grow and family expands. I hope you let us know the final plans and built pix would be lovely to see too. May I ask a favour of you: to write a short testimonial on my page here on Houzz so as others can find me and my design skills too. Thank you Cheers and good luck. Margot

depending on how many people live in the house and how much washing you need to do another option could be a combined vanity/laundry accessed from the bathroom hallway with a pantry broom cupboard in the kitchen ..the laundry space could have a wide counter with small drop in sink that can be used for handwashing clothes and hands with a front loading washing machine concealed behind cabinet doors and mirror doored wall cabinets for small storage and/or hanging racks above the sink and tall storage could be included in the kitchen pantry, linen or bedroom..the space would be part of the bathroom or could have narrow stacking doors or a full height roller blind to conceal any mess

Hi, firstly congratulations on the new purchase. If you are on a tight budget then painting is certainly an option... you can do this yourself if you are feeling particularly DIY inclined or you can also have the doors and panels painted professionally in a polyurethane finish. Dulux does a great range of renovation paints that people tend to get some good results with. If you go the poly route bare in mind there will still be a significant investment required. Green cabinetry with timber accents would look great. Either a darker shade or you could look at sage perhaps, which is very popular at the moment. You could add some open shelving on the wall where the hanging scales are currently positioned. White is also an option as its timeless but everyone has a white kitchen. If you're going to renovate and this is your home for the foreseeable future dare to be bold and add some colour in your life :) Timber benchtops would be lovely but they are very expensive, especially at the moment. You could however add a timber top on the island as a butchers block type feature and update the back bench with either an engineered stone or a laminate. You could add in some brass or black handles and depending on how far you want to go update your tapware to match to finish the look. Good luck with the renovation!