adding some furniture helps identify traffic patterns and there's a direct line of sight to the view from kitchen, dining, living and lounge with a great northern aspect and plenty of wall space for furniture and artwork...the glass doors between the lounge and kitchen could be made a cavity slider inside the wall behind the fridge although the combined hinged and stacking doors as shown would be much easier to use...also consider having a single door opening between the living and TV room to have some wall space for furniture on both sides and create a sitting area for your parent (ie two retreats at either end of the combined kitchen family area) ignoring the awful colour scheme this picture is a 3d view from your kitchen sink and a building designer should be able to create much better scenes for you

Lots and LOTS of suggestions there! My idea is big, (and expensive), no tinkering with whats there but rethinking the use of the whole space. I think it would be great open the whole thing up by removing the laundry from current position, removing all the dividing walls and using all the space for longer kitchen and island, running parallel with the back wall. Extend the kitchen cupboards the length of the family room to include laundry-in-a-cupboard, then put the loo under the stairs off the living room, backing into the left hand end of the kitchen. The whole space would be open, with the kitchen a tiny bit further to the right (because of loo position). Big glass along the front, paint all those beams white, no timber interior wall, Gorgeous! Big job though! How game are you?

Sorry Darlene but that's just no good...........a big part of the problem here is your trying to keep the cut out alfresco/outdoor living that is at odds with the style you are trying to work with, and it's causing the squeeze/compromise to the main central internal living spaces. There's nothing wrong with this type of thing in concept but they require experienced hands to resolve elegantly as opposed to a clunky way.... Refer to the plan I posted earlier - there is not one dogleg to be seen. paths of movement are streamlined and neat and proportions and alignments are balanced. What you've proposed above here walking straight into the dining area is not a good option and it makes your house feel smaller - this may be justified in situations say when you have no space in an apartment or unit scenario.........your on 2 acres or something? - your home should feel appropriately scaled and with space to breathe....... There are different plan configurations that will meet your particular brief requirements but the problem you have is that you are locked into this particular perimeter that has developed and then in the process of trying to sort it out you keep forcing/rejigging everything within the same shape/format that is actually not a fixed thing Here are your options: (a) seek some pro design guidance with a professional who understands the style/language you are working with - but don't be surprised if the nominated budget is exceeded in a custom format (b) explore some alternative options what siri & I suggested in considering off the shelf solutions of similar style that may be more aligned with your budget (c) keep going the way you are doing your head in fumbling around trying to DIY design your home but clearly falling short of your vision Best of luck!

Hi AIC, Hasn't your extension and deck been designed by a Brisbane architect based at Ashgrove. I have seen the picture above before and have admired it. I won't mention the name of the architect, but I was pondering whether to ask them to give advice on an extension + deck that I am considering. Are you happy with what has been done so far? Would you engage them again? What aspect is the back of your house ? Did you end up finding any info about neighbours building extensions that overlook your backyard? My new neighours have built a massive house that should have been built on a bigger block. The house has only just been completed. They don't have a deck on the top storey, but it is all glass doors. They got many relaxations - built on fence line, house closer to front of block than all other houses, etc, for the initial build. I can only imagine that they were advised by the certifier that they wouldn't get approval for a massive deck overlooking my yard (as the house extends back 11m further into their yard than mine (on the east side of my place). That is, if it was part of the original house approval. I am not sure how the house was certified with the sliding doors 3.5 metres of the ground going to nowhere - to a massive void.