Hi Blufitch, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. The four coffee tables are lovely, but I would probably opt for one of the two top ones. That being said, check the measurements first as these round tables might be significantly larger than your existing Ikea table. Re the potted plant, a taller one would be better, or you can put this one on a plant stand or even on a ceramic stool. But if you feel a mirror would be too much due to your mirrored splashback, leave the plant as it is and hang a framed print above the plant. It doesn't need to be big, but it's important that it s not too small so it doesn't look too "lost" on the wall. It's hard for me to judge the size from here, but a 70x40 frame might be ok. You could have only the yellow canvas above the couch, but you would have to bring in a few more brightly-coloured cushions or throw onto the couch, to compensate for the empty wall. Alternatively, you could also hang a large mirror above the couch. If you decide to do this, I think it would be best to move the canvas back to where it was, and hang the mirror in front of the window, so it reflects the natural light around and gives more depth to the room. The large Ikea Stave mirror (in white stained oak) is very reasonably priced and would work great. Just double check it fits first (it's 70x160)! Tell us how yo go! All the best, Nelly / Twinkle and Whistle

If you "change" anything that involves a building approval then the floor area on the plans relevant will count towards the overall amount. If it amounts to beyond 50% of the existing conditions then the whole building becomes applicable to energy calculations and so you enter into up spec'ing existing areas. And yes it can often be a good thing to be doing anyway, but of course it costs money. If the total area being changes is below 50% then only the areas of new work are applicable. I'm honestly not a specialist in this area, but I have to deal with the issues naturally in the course of the design and resolution of project solutions I provide, and hence I use an energy consultant regularly and we have a way/system of working through together how best to achieve the requirements for permit. As far as I understand it's a case by case/project specific exercise and also there's various ways of negotiating/achieving the necessary performance requirements - e.g. you can play around with different levels of insulation together with a particular glazing/window spec, and depending upon circumstances you can save money one way or another. Sometimes I'll squeeze windows overall down to get it under a certain amount to not trigger requirement for expensive glass...also timber windows rate better, but if you are in a bushfire area you'll be caught out or require very expensive timber windows...it's a real juggling act in particular contexts...which is why you really need to be working collaboratively with an energy consultant/specialist to work out the best solution in this regard, as well as the other aspects of design, structure and bushfire etc. It's a true team effort ;) If you're really up for some technical reading you there is some further energy info here NCC Volume One Energy Efficiency Provisions 2016 - Australian ... but it may get confusing........Coming back to the core of it, my advice: 1. define your budget 2. list and prioritise your requirements 3. seek some preliminary advice/assistance from a seasoned designer doing this type of work to test whether or not the general concept of what your endeavouring to achieve is viable, and this depends upon the relevant context/existing conditions etc (and bushfire rating is yet another layer on top of all this), and then refine the concept from there. If you are just doing a bathroom or kitchen isolated then you can arguably do it yourself, but if you're re-jigging the whole house like it appears you are heading towards, and on a very tight budget then I'd highly recommend (to save yourself headaches and frustration going around in never-ending circles) to invest some of your available budget into front-end design, to get to a solution that works to your nominated priorities so you achieve a viable and professionally advised outcome. Trust me it will be money well spent. Have a great Christmas, and best of luck with continuing to work through it all :)

@dreamer Ha, I was embarrassed by how messy this pic was, that's why I didn't put it in the initial post. Yes, the power lead is absolutely gone - we just moved in a couple of weeks ago and everything in the wrong place! Thank you for your concern :) I was pretty sure that the measurements didn't allow for them to be side by side, but I'm going to look into that. If we can do that with enough airflow underneath for the ventilation, that would be a good solution. The patio has a roof but the left side of the photo (where the very overgrown grass is) does get wet in rain, so not sure if the side by side machines would work for that reason too. @Kate Yes, it's exposed on the side. We just wanted to find a laundry solution at this time - we are also planning on updating the kitchen and bathroom this year, but had initially thought that we would do that by just updating cabinets/appliances (and just re-siliconing and freshening up the bathroom). We are not against a bigger renovation but obviously have some cost limitations and are trying to do what makes the most sense.

Hi oklouise The sad part is the existing bathroom is beautifully finished! This whole house was well finished and really well built. It was sad to have to demolish things that were so well done, but the design problems made changes necessary. The bathroom has porcelain wall tiles floor to ceiling on all walls and a white polished porcelain floor (slippery as all hell, and a mongrel to keep the grout lines clean!) is laid over a full 300mm+ of solid concrete, under which are all the drains. Outer walls are 200mm of reinforced solid concrete. Tiles on internal walls are over cypress timber frame with generally two layers of lining glued, screwed and nailed on - and there is way more timber in the frame than necessary. I think the builder (who built it for himself) thought the house would last forever and would never need to be changed in any way. Exact distance from external door to wall is 1.1m on both vanity and shower side. The door combination is 1200 wide and placed dead center. It's worth noting that 300m on the vanity side of the door is full-length frosted glass panel and it's possible to infringe a bit on that area if absolutely necessary, provided there's enough room for the door to swing safely (as it swings toward the vanity. I will take some photos now and share.