We got the IKEA shelves that are pictured in the butlers pantry photo I posted when we were on holiday in Melbourne, Australia. We don't have IKEA here in New Zealand! Hubby is going back over in May/June so will get him to get more of that sort of thing when there. We would pay about 4x the price for that sort of thing here in NZ. I need to work out what I will do now where the fridge was and there is the angle change (does that make sense?).

Excuse my duh-ness but i'm having difficulty trying to follow whats going on here. Are these two photos an exact replica of your house and pool ? If not a hasty sketch with dimensions could help a lot. By kitchen wall do you mean the wall behind the bar ? And where is the pool wall ? Are you considering the covered area as being "inside" ? Sorry for all those questions lol Sometimes when you have a design problem you need to turn it inside out or on it's head. If you can't beat it maybe embrace it by making a feature of it : i.e. contrast by having the lightest colored pool surround and a great blue or tile inside and under the overhang, something that will echo the water color ? If you have a great covered area as in photo you'll most likely be spending a lot of time there and it could be soothing to be able to sometimes retire into a darker inside. In my book, 10M isn't small and also contrasting two floor colors doesn't necessarily make a space seem smaller and confined and may in fact even open it up. Could it be that you've thought yourself into a box here ? Sometimes one needs to give it all a good shake up and see how it resettles.

Thanks :) Yeah decided to go with tile. So sand cement is ok over existing tiles if I prep them first? Only problem is, the new pad can only be about 30mm at it's thickest (leaving up to 15mm for tiles) otherwise it'll end up being higher than the hallway floor. So I either need to make the fall shallower or not bother with the waste and make it all level. If I made it level, could I use levelling compound at that thickness or would deck mud/sand cement be the best option? Also, should I be putting in mesh for strength? (I know I should (and will) ask the local hardware what they suggest, but it's great to have suggestions from the Houzz community also)

Is this a new build? I would suggest you look at each room in detail and put the actual furniture arrangement you will have, to the right scale, and think about how you will move through and use those spaces. Some of those look odd to me, but it may be the way you intend to use those spaces is different to my imagination. The access to the changing room seems only through the Kitchen. and either out the front door or dining and living to get to the pool area. How will this be fenced? Where is washing to be carried from the laundry? Is there a line nearby? Out the front door, or through kitchen dining and living? Bed 4 has to go through a living space to a bathroom, the living room is hard to imagine in use as arranged, and bed 2 and 3 look to have the beds right into a corner for no reason. How would you accommodate a double bed in these rooms? In a few years this may be what you want. If you will have other furniture, draw it in. There a large walk in cupboard/robe off a store room. What will be in the storage room? Draw that in too, so you know there is space and it won't block access to the robe. Many of the storage spaces/benches/shelves are shown with corner shelving arrangements which isn't often the best use of space. Bed 1 looks out onto the front access. How will you provide privacy? What different uses do you imagine in the living, family and rumpus rooms?