Don't demolish! The house looks like it has good bones and potential. You will just overcapitalise if u do the slate is back in vogue ATM , so if it's not obstructing entrance, leave The kitchen is good, leave as is and add ur own touches bathrooms- they Will Need updating, however, we really Need to see floor plan to look at How ur 'shower cupboard' can be utilised! does the bathroom have a separate bath and shower?and what are the rooms either side of this space? as ur family grows u Will realise How Space and Storage is a major necessity! Could this space be used to open up bathroom and have a large double shower? Or a walk in linen? Linen cupboard not far from bath is Always handy or walk in robe to an adjacent room? now people are recommending upgrading the driveway? but as a whole, the landscaping is the Main point! this doesn't mean u have to rip the whole thing out and start again, though There's a lot of products out there these days that can be used to recoat bricks, cement.. Etc.. So do ur research on costs of upgrading what u have before investing in anything expensive! gardens? Now a good Pest controller will tell u to Never build ur garden bed up against the house. This is due to moisture, which can over time affect the house.. And because of termites. You may be in a lower risk area but they're pretty much always around. So always leave about a metre of cement etc between house and garden, to be safe! Now, most importantly- any home renovator will tell you to actually Live in the house for about a year( to see all seasons) to see how the house functions. Note sun/ shade / light/ heating/cooling etc and it's impact upon the house's current aspect, comfort and presentation. This Will help with colour shades u want to choose and where u will need to add windows for light or awnings, solar panels etc. It will also help with the landscaping, for choosing plants and watering types, levels required to maintain them! hope all that helps somewhat?? best of luck!

Hi LouieT, answers to your q's - Side Windows - not too fussed about them but we'd need windows whether they are the existing ones or new/enlarged I guess depends where they end up. In the current floorplan the one in the toilet is a small window which is boarded up atm. The one in the bathroom is a long/tall louvre window - works quite well in the bathroom - not so sure about how it will go in winter though. Plan with WC in laundry - its 965mm to the window so should fit, however I don't think a WC in that position would work for us as it means people needing to walk to the back of the house to go to the toilet - and I could imagine our ensuite becoming the default toilet if thats the case. Moving laundry - I think we'd probably need a window. Losing large storage - i think we're resigned to losing it. However I think if we can maintain the current laundry or a reasonable portion of it we can owrk in some more storage there. Having had a look at the 3 I think the first one (where current laundry is maintained) is the best. I had a play in sketchup with my measurements and I think your first 3D plan and the first of the three can fit with a few tweaks. See below...

the other thought i had was to swop the bedroom with the wiw and ens so that the entry to the bedroom is from the hallway and the ens and wiw are facing the rear..some variation of this idea would allow a north aspect for the bedroom and bigger wiw and ens and the "bump" from the hallway adds a little more space for the entry and adds to the interest for the long hallway but is not essential

Hi RePete, another app for drafting is Home Sweet Home which is free. My experience has been that some of the really good architects are happy to share their ideas when they visit as they enjoy the creative process so much. Eg Williams Burton met with us years ago (we are still figuring out what to do!) - and I was very impressed. We didn't use them as they are very fastidious so their builds take a long time and we can't cope with that but they do some amazing work on character homes in particular and although people think of them as only doing very expensive jobs, I am aware that they have also done some cheaper jobs where the project has got their interest. You could try talking to them and a few others from that "tier". I can't remember if we paid for the initial meeting, but if we did it was only a very small amount. I would seek as many views as possible (including here), keep trawling the net and pinterest as well as Houzz, look at lots of magazines etc, go to every open home that is vaguely like your style and ask the real estate agent who designed/built it... (hmmmm this is why we haven't started building yet after 8 years...) As Ok says, probably the only person that can determine what accommodation is required is you, so make that thought process a parallel one to looking at pictures. Good luck.