Hi Jammomuzo It is always a great experience planing a new home, a great chance to look to the future and hope for great things, and its good to see the great contributions of ideas that you have received so far. The initial ground floor sketch plan that you have shown seems to consider orientation some functions with a plausible response, however I think your greatest asset is the brief, your five pages with ideas would be a good indication of your expectations, that would be my starting point with your design. Then there is always the consideration of site location, time frame, budget and non negotiable 'must have' spaces, and the expectation of all stakeholders in the project including pets if you have some. I think that you upstairs expectations are achievable, however I think that they should be planned concurrent and relating t your ground floor design. Looking at the ground floor there might be a few things you like to consider; The position of the stair on the north side, and the single flight. It might be better if you could relate the stair on the south side on the service areas and retain north light in the main living areas. Also a stair is always better with a turn and and a landing - less distance to fall, stairs and accidents go hand in hand - reduce the risk. I like the location of your guest room - cannot tell from the drawings if you have associated a bathroom or en suite with it. It wold be advantageous to have an en-suite of a small corridor so that your guest have some privacy but still be usable by the rest of the downstairs populous. It might be good to get a door from the Garage - thought a ventilated airlock - to the rest off the house. I think you have placed a hot plate or a sink on your kitchen front bench. In an emergency like a fire, instinctively one goes from the fire to the sink. It is always best to have the sink separate from the hot plate by one working station - about 800 to 1000 mm,and on the same side, this avoids the accidental spill of oils in an emergency especially if you have young children that travel very quickly around the kitchen. There are many factors to consider in a design, it takes a few revisions to obtain something that you are happy with. I hope this is of some help, it would be interesting to see the elevations and how the house develops its its character, considering that that is your intention from you initial elevation. I think to get a better understanding you would need a few 3D accurately generated computer views so as to fully understand how the spaces might look and work in the final arrangement. Wish you the best in your efforts. I would be happy to work with you or further comment on your proposal. Michael Manias - mm407p@gmail.com newhomedesign.com.au

yes I liked that one too simple yet quite nice..I'm glad you liked it too you could pop a few stones in there to make a seat ? like the last photo ..quiet corner to contemplate :)

First step - get rid of the cats. As I'm sure you know, cat pee, cat poo and cat vomit not to mention hunting trophies are not what you want to be dealing with when you're doing anything with an area. Avoid BBQ's - unless you're prepared to spend on having a fire rated ceiling (BBQ flare ups are a fire hazard). Depending on how much storage the house has - dedicate part of the area to dedicated good looking storage (honestly, there's never enough of it). Look at creating an all weather sitting/entertaining area (you could put in a false ceiling or paint the ceiling all one colour to match your pipework). Pop in a bar fridge, some cool outdoor furniture and think about concreting the floor and putting down one or more cool outdoor rugs and if there's enough room down there think about creating a screened off change room for the hot tub visitors. This makes it the perfect entertaining area when it's hideously hot, pouring rain or when you use your hot tub and want the users contained to that area when they've got wet swimming costumes etc.

Hi Louise, Thank you for replying. My house is in North west of Sydney. The block is flat. The house is split level. There two bedrooms study and bathroom at level1. Inlaws accommodation and garage in the one level under ground level, rest at the ground level. There is a deck at the rear from the family room to the rear garden. I have plans to renovate the whole house but no plans to extend. We have a big front garden but not so big rear garden. We love the dinning area and the family room room at the rear . The front of the house is facing north east. My wife, myself and a 2 month old live in the house. However my parents frequently visit us from overseas and live with us. I also have my sister come visit and stay with us some times. The bath room and the kitchen on the ground floor is facing east and the bathroom and toilet upstairs is facing west. There is no bathroom in the inlaws accommodation. Inlaws accommodation is used for guest for example my sister visits. We prefer open plan arer towards the rear than the front but I am open for suggestions as the kitchen and the living is at the front of the house.