Hi there, I think that the skylight would definitely be the way to go, if your budget runs to it. It will really lift the whole stairwell and make it much lighter and brighter. Full height frosted doors may be OK on the laundry, but I wouldn't recommend it for the bathroom as when lights are on in the room, you may be able to see more than you bargained for, from the corridor. The occupants of the house may feel comfortable with it, but any guests or visitors may not. A frosted panel at the top of the door would be as far as I'd go. Bear in mind too, that glass lets more sound through than timber, and in a situation like yours, I'd recommend a solid core door, for that reason. I hope this helps!

Might be helpful if I talk through the parts we like and dislike with the existing rooms: - Lounge: gorgeous old fireplace and morning sun through the windows, great natural light. We spend a lot of time here - Dining: no windows and existing walls block off indirect light from the other rooms, thus why we thought it would be great to knock down some of those internal walls. If that becomes too difficult we'll need to at least do a skylight - Family: my least favourite room, mostly due to the coldness. As mentioned before, its really just being used as storage atm and long term plan is to replace it with something warmer/better constructed - Kitchen: pretty pokey, would love for it to be open with the living, dining and outdoor areas. Great view right onto the backyard from the current kitchen sink windows - Bed 1: gorgeous morning light, pretty happy - Bed 2: gorgeous afternoon light, not really used atm - Bed 3: pretty small, ok natural light. We're using it as a study currently - Bathroom: pretty old and feels abit cramped (that may just be the layout), but doesn't bug us as much for some reason, so happy to leave for later - Backyard: Flat. Very leafy and overgrown. 2 or 3 massive trees, but otherwise mostly shrubs and weeds. We're aiming to tame the weeds, plant some veggies and fruit trees and keep a few chickens for a permaculture/food forest kind of feel :) @oklouise - the block is about 16 m wide and 45 m long. From the front bedroom wall to the front fence is about 10m. From the "Family" room wall to the side fence is about 2.7m. We're in Sydney in quite a leafy suburb so I guess moderate/warm climate? And yes, we are looking into what we can do with the trees with council @Kate - thanks, we had actually thought about rotating the house initially but it turns out with the current orientation, the windows in the Lounge Room and Bedroom 1 get gorgeous morning sun, so definitely keen to keep that. We're doing laundry at the moment in the outdoor shed, which is fully plumbed and yes, existing bathroom is quite old but not bothering us too much at the moment. We're checking with an electrician and a plumber on the general state of things there Thanks for all your suggestions and questions so far - let me know if you have any great ideas!

my sister had to originally put her washer dryer at one end of the kitchen, european style. She actually found it way more convenient, and so when she got to upgrade and do over the kitchen, one end of the galley became the butlers pantry with washer and dryer in there as well. maybe it could work, but given all the advice above, I think avoiding moving walls is going to be important. Gosh, hopefully everyone's advice helps! Don't worry and take your time, I have been in my old house a year and I think i came up with 4 different floor plans before i realised what I needed to do. keep thinking it over and one day it will just hit you what needs to be done.

@kiwimills I use the lounge a lot, so really not keen on eating into that space. The laundry I really only visit to put on a load of washing or grab the mop (robot vac does the rest) so wanted to pop it into an area where it's closer to the lines and in space that is not being used. Love the ideas though. @Kate yup. I think if you have space issues a dedicated laundry room seems very wasteful for most people. And wasn't there a building regulation that says you can't put them in kitchens in Australia as well? Makes sense to put them where the rest of the plumbing is. I was actually thinking of going for full height if possible to maximise space. Do you find that sliding doors impede your access or frustrate you accessing the laundry? Obviously compromises have to be made, but just wondering whether that ends up being an issue? @oklouise Thanks a heap! The layout of the house at the moment has a hinged laundry door leading to some steep (non-railed!) steps leading to the backyard. I rarely use it for anything except to get airflow into the house, but was wondering if it would be important to keep? Obviously it's about what I need at the moment, but am also considering resale value just in case.