First consider views/outlooks and then consider vistas from internal space and also from the deck and position the deck to capture that the best. Re your kitchen, I'd try and locate it on an internal wall to promote outwards/external connection which then would give you more flexibility/options as to where to move in and out of and how you can to the external areas - whether that be double doors or whatever.... Make sure you are clear about outdoor furniture size and how you want to use it and start with that and then adjust the size/proportion of the deck to how you see it best working.......those decisions will be yours/personal as to how far you go with that. I'd also try and avoid fixing an external BBQ set-up where you you have to walk around it - think about flow and movement when you position the elements and consider furniture positioning/orientation as equal importance as any built in elements...I think you're generally on the right track if you want to keep spend to a minimum........decks are not that cheap /m2 either, so try an plan it efficiently to the functional requirements of what you need.....good luck! :)

OK, a few issue here. General comment : It could be heaps better - there's nothing much exciting here. What do you see when you walk in the front door? The back of the garage door beyond the window. There is a disconnect of flow from the kitchen and the living/dining zone. To start with The plan is missing furniture (big designer fail). You'll see once that is put in whether it's working appropriately for what you want or not. I'd guess if you got a lounge onto the plan immediately you'd see that you'd be squeezed walking into the end of it trying to access the dining table and depending on the dining table proportion's likely that area is squeezed. The relationship between the dining and kitchen area could be improved. I'd suggest there is an alternative that avoids such an exaggerated doglegged end to the space that renders some precious unusable outdoor space and is a clunky resolution. You'd be better off building hard up to the end and enlarging the main outdoor areas so it's a single space, or potentially getting some external storage into it. The living/kitchen dining could be a lot cleaner and more spacious feeling. Would be good to understand where north is. On something like this you're better to exploit the site length rather than try and compromise the width. If north is up the page my instinct would be to flip the whole thing entirely having the kitchen running along the south. Also for a house this smallish scale arguably it would be more efficient to combine pantry and laundry for a more spacious outcome. Also I'd suggest that the outdoor kitchen is oversized and out of proportion for the site. It's always about balancing and prioritising elements, and in tight sites you have to work harder and make robust decisions about where you give & take. You can't afford to waste a square inch here, and if you want it to be awesome the design needs to be super efficient and to achieve a reasonable amenity that doesn't feel squeezed in the main spaces. It takes experience and skill to get this stuff right. Sorry if am seeming overly critical, but when engaged in resolving spaces for people I consider it a responsibility as a professional to ensure a client gets the absolute most out of the opportunity. There is so much underwhelming "vanilla" design work that people pay good money for, thinking that it's "good" when they are no idea how much better it can be. It doesn't have to necessarily be more expensive, but it does have to be throughly considered and properly managed, and opportunities identified and harnessed. Typically this involves considering a number of various broad options and then fine-tuning towards an outcome that is properly aligned to budget and project brief. Budget of course is the biggest factor to get a proper handle of, think here at least $500K+. If that's pushing it, then you'll have some hard decisions to make and need to be consolidating the extent of the expensive fit-out areas in conjunction with a more efficient design that achieves something in a smaller extension......if that's so then possibly one of the front rooms may have to be repurposed for bathroom.......again this comes back to starting the process by considering various options in broad form together with properly applied costings to each option so you can be making informed decisions on what's possible, rather than nitpicking detail on options that are likely beyond budget. Hope this provides some food for thought from a professional perspective Good luck with it PD :) www.pauldistefanodesign.com

Another option instead of a light well is to have a glass floor section in the ground floor just above were the stairs lands. and open the wall in the sitting room/use steps hanging in a wire. so there is plenty of light coming in one side of stairs plus light above the landing area. this brings some cool features to the house, which i am already thinking to have a glass floor section somewhere and a mesh floor section somewhere probably in the first floor above entry. Light is not an issue anymore again the big question is when you enter do you want to see the stairs going up or down. Hmm.. tough decision to make

i'm not convinced that the arrangement of the new stairs will fit properly and, assuming that the original ceilings are higher than 2400, a straight flight should fit better, be more comfortable to use and include a generous storage area for the laundry and more comfortable guest bathroom... swapping the upstairs bathroom allows for more economical plumbing, more space for a small lounge overlooking the rear garden and there's a northern window for bed 3 and a more private entry for beds 2 and 3 allows more wall space for the lounge and bigger linen storage and there's more space for the ens and wiw with extra windows for better ventilation and maybe consider a French balcony for the master.. there should be plenty of space for a separate kitchen island about 3m x 750-900 depending on how big a dining table and sideboard you prefer and suggest the western windows in the family dining area to be splashback sized ie about 90 cms off the floor and only 60cms high to allow for views of the garden wall without restricting furniture placement and i would be tempted to save one or more of the windows and expose the bricks in the old rear wall to light under the stairs and new laundry, create display alcoves backed with frosted glass? and/or retain more of the history of the house but it would probably be easier to just cover the whole wall with plasterboard and also check out Solar Skylights for excellent economical extra day lighting for downstairs windowless rooms (eg Arcol and/or Illume brands) and a closeable door between new and old parts of the house can improve zoning for heating and/or air conditioning