Thank you @Creative Style Interior Design and @bigreader @Creativelychallenged - Thank you for your nice words. We are indeed very happy with the result. We also went through all these stages you describe, so don't feel depressed... there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Our research stage was so long and quite discouraging at times. We've always wanted to live in a queenslander, but our house is not one. This didn't stop us on going ahead adding some character to our bathrooms design (and kitchen). We started with the idea of making these bathrooms with a colonial touch but we found that it was not easy to find the elements we wanted (tiles, furniture, tapware) at a cost that would fit our budget. We learned that the type of tiles we liked (encaustic) were VERY expensive ($200+), traditional looking furniture was also very expensive... So we shifted to a more modern design...(not very happily though), and after a while of collecting ideas for modern tiles, furniture etc.. we felt quite depressed because we were compromising... updating our bathrooms with something fresher, but far, far away from what we really liked. In our view modern furniture looked very plain, streamlined and... boring, but we were doing 2 bathrooms (on a budget) so we were not prepared to spend a fortune, and we settled with modern. We ordered marble type tiles for the floor 900x600, and wood like tiles for the walls, and booked the builder to start demolition. Luckily for us National tiles called us saying that there was an error and the tiles they promised were not going to be available for 3 more months!!! Depressed again.... It took us so long to find something we liked (kinda) and now we were back to square one. Then my lovely wife said... Why don't we give it another go and try to make a more traditional design as we originally wanted.... So to make it short... we went back online with 'refreshed' energy and pressure (demolition already started) and found many things I coudn't find before: Floor tiles @ $25/m2 Subway tiles for walls @$16 the box on sale... Ensuite furniture and basin from Ikea Main bathroom furniture was an antique dresser we found in an op shop for $150 repainted and repurposed.... etc... In the end we spent approx $12,5K for both bathrooms in total :-) So, to summarise... don't dispair... just look in this website, on pinterest, magazines, google, etc... Play around with ideas and copy!... (you'll see that our ensuite is quite similar to the first photo in this discussion)... Good luck! :-)

Hi Sarah, I completely sympathise with your situation and very sorry to hear about it for you. You're in a complete mess with this. As a Pro it's super frustrating to look on and hear of these stories because 100% this is so easily avoided with the right approach and astute investment in using a competent design professional. I've lost count of the number of times I've had people eventually come to find us, but in a bit of state/heads done in/in a shemozzle of a situation, after spending time/(sometimes years) and money getting nowhere, being disappointed with higher than expected quotes etc yet still pretty much back exactly where they begun with no logical plan forward.........sound familiar? The common thread is lack of alignment or management of expectations of Project budget to Project brief relationship. And that's why we have a job as professional designers - we develop solutions for specific needs, balanced within context and balanced within constraints, the biggest one always being budget. You just can't bypass this process and expect to get good results. And you won't achieve it effectively on a Houzz forum. Hopefully though a few of our Pro responses will help steer you in the right direction. Unfortunately people think it's a good way to save money on their projects to not pay for design - it's actually quite the opposite. There's no easy answer here of say "move the kitchen there, flip that over, change this or that" etc unfortunately you're back to the drawing board....and you're best to accept the time and money put in so far is actually part of the process and your particular journey. This reminds me of a project years back where clients came in asking me to tweak and draw up a design that someone else had done - they already spent $40K and had a planning permit for it but there were big budget problems - it was clearly/unfortunately a poor & inefficiently resolved design beyond budget (similar to yours) & I could visualise a much better alternative solution. So I convinced them to move on, toss it all away and we go back to the drawing board - I'd redesign it from scratch much better and better value/cost effective overall - they reluctantly agreed and that's exactly what I did. Fortunately they did themselves a favour knowing deep down that they had to go backwards to go forwards. I designed and delivered a far better, less expensive and more impressive home. that they are eternally grateful for, and for my honesty and advice at the time that was ultimately in their best interests. Like always, with all projects, it ALWAYS comes down to money.........so their success relies predominantly in the design solution..... I'll try and keep it simple: 1. Design is a process of balancing requirements within context within constraint/limits 2. Good design decisions involve having understanding of cost/budget consequences 3. the above points are primarily what distinguishes design professionals from amateurs 4. It's therefore false economy trying to DIY design and/or pursue projects of this scale as Owner Builder unless you (a) have a passive income (b) significant construction experience (c) a flexible budget and are just in it for a hit & a giggle So our Advice: Seek Professional Design assistance How we manage these types of projects is by starting with clarifying the project brief in writing - forget about the floor plan - define and specify your brief requirements and goals and define the budget. The next step is to look at broad form options that we develop in a "Feasibility' stage of service in which we analyse the context, identify some logical options/variations of format for a nominated project scope relative to context and apply accurate construction cost projects to each to compare. So in your case we'd be looking at answering the critical questions of in what particular format can we best meet the requirements? Is it with an extension, or hybrid alterations&additions, do we go up, down or out, what are the cost differences and pro's and cons to the different configuration options, how much should we renovate, how does the investment one way or the other stack up in regards to property value? Is it actually better value to do more than less (more often yes!) Is staging/breaking up a project into parts beneficial or proven to be less cost effective? So many questions that need professional assistance and experience to answer to get the best outcome for you and your family. It's not easy business........Labour cost these days is the killer on renos - if you don't know what you're doing (ie understanding how certain design decisions translate to X cost) then you've got no hope in balancing the numbers to success................ Apologies for the long winded response! Hope this helps Sarah. Trust us, we know what we're talking about. Happy to provide further advice/assistance if you'd like to contact us directly Kind regards, Paul Di Stefano Paul Di Stefano Design www.pauldistefanodesign.com

having employed an Architect and designers several times i wish that we had first had the opportunity to use the experiences of others to "talk over" different ideas before committing to the pay per hour services of a professional who is usually keen to make one suggestion and then move on to their next job..quite rightly as they're busy earning a living..maybe the professional will arrive at the best solution at the first attempt but as beginners and later as more experienced builders and renovators we didn't know what choices would suit us best and had to accept the first offer and live with the consequences...price isn't the most important consideration when employing anyone.. time to understand the options is what we needed .. the reason we see so many posting on HOUZZ second guessing their professionals' work is because sometimes we need to share our concerns with a friendly audience..so we can collect ideas that can be costed to have a realistic understanding of what can be bought for $x00K+ ..but, it's only after they've done the work that we could begin to get a feeling of which professional suits our style but then that knowledge is only useful for the next job and most people don't need or want to do this type of project too often..having a rough idea of options is a great place to start and i look forward to some extra information so that we can offer some suggestions for Jayson

The accuracy of a builders price depends on the information that he can price from. Any builder can given you a ballpark figure without any drawings or documentation but it will be very rubbery, so probably plus or minus $100K (usually plus). It is a waste of time at this early stage to be shopping around for other rubbery figures. I am happy to give you a rubbery figure without even seeing your home and I would anticipate that you would expect to pay between $300K and $500K for two attic bedrooms to nest neatly into the roof of a Californian bungalow. Of course this is the bottom end, and it could go easily go a lot higher depending on the structural integrity of the existing building, and how much of downstairs needs renovating at the same time. If you engage a design professional to complete a proper measure up and concept drawings the builders price will be more accurate, but still not very accurate. Even if you engage a design professional for full working drawings and an engineer for the structural there will still be a little bit of variation as there are still some unknowns. Converting an attic space into two bedrooms (and possibly a bathroom?) is not a straightforward process - it is actually quite a complicated 3D puzzle, and lots can go wrong if it is not measured accurately, designed well and drawn up to a good level of detail. Structural issues, head height issues, stair design, roof pitches, window flashings, insulation, overlooking, street elevation etc are all important issues that need to be carefully considered. For many draftspeople, this is beyond their normal type of work, which is why I would recommend that you use an architect or building design professional that is experienced in attic conversions. In your situation, I would engage a local design professional, preferably one who is used to more complex extensions, to design it to concept stage, then get your builder to fine-tune his figures. Ideally a building professional who can model it in 3D can be a good insurance policy that it all fits together as it should. If it all looks good then proceed to a more resolved design, and then full documentation. Converting attic space is always going to be an expensive way to create more space, so it is crucial that you spend money at the start to get the design right. It is even more expensive if you try and skimp on design fees by engaging an inexperienced draftsperson, and problems with the design are only realized during construction. Unfortunately, I have seen this happen too often ( I often get called in when projects go off the rails by others) with head height clearance and stair design in many attic conversions, and it is very expensive to rectify. Best of luck with your budgeting, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits