The house looks very livable. I love that you have concentrated on creating one nice bath with separate walk in shower and a windowed tub! Since you have already thought of it, I'm going to assume that the attic is for future expansion and cannot be adapted for use as the current "away room." We are also in the process of designing a small house, and we've designated our study as the "away room." Ours will open off the dining room. If you switched the locations of the Study and Bed 1 on the same side, you could put french doors or an extra wide door with etched or decorative glass from the hallway into the right hand corner of the study. This would give you a really long diagonal view through the lounge and out the french doors, and from the lounge through the study to the window at the far end... The study window should be increased in width to match the neighboring window in Bed 1, and it then becomes ripe for a small window seat, either a clip on bay bumping out, or a "built-in" bay using narrow built ins on either side. Or both: build "in" for now, putting file cabinet drawers under the window seat, and angled corner units in for storage, and add the bump out bay later when you know whether your offspring would prefer a really cute desk, or a window seat, or a bed nook. You would, alas, lose the door from Bed 1 into the bath.... but honestly, there are lot of doors into that bathroom already, and that one has substantial collision potential. It might be best to make the single access point that door from the laundry. Either a glass panel set high in the bath room doors or a transome would make it easy to tell when someone is in the loo. Other ideas would be to split the nook under the stairs, so that half the depth opens to the lounge, and the other half to Bed2... with the wall thickness, you probably get close to 600mm or 2' on each side. Add a deep bookcase or other built in, and you're easily at a depth that makes both spaces very tucked in. Lastly, if funds allow a shallow bay window over the kitchen sink would visually expand the kitchen, particularly if you could arrange it so that the counter runs right into the bay.

as a mum I agree worktop is priority, but also there's extreemly little cupboard storage so I would stick with the pantry cupboard and add a freestanding ikea Varde unit like attached pic ( I would have preferred integrated dishwasher too and a bit of moulding/ shape to the door style in a perfect world ) where's the fridge supposed to go?

Well, for lack of a better idea, since you find it a drafty little space. I'm assuming the draft comes in on the right? Most of the necessities in the area are located of the left side; i.e. vent, thermostat, light switch etc. What I would do I think is caulk up the drafty spots, maybe even add sized poster board wrapped in batting I covered in a gorgeous fuscia with diagonal grosgrain ribbons every which way covered with a heavy velvet to be attached to the area above & below the window. (Of course remove the drapes that are hanging in there). This for the purpose of using it as a pin-it board for notes. Attach a table height board covered in felt to carry across the full width of the little room. Leaving just enough space for a comfortable little antique desk chair. Paint the back wall a bright cobalt blue, paint the ceiling a silvery pearlescent white. Find a way to attach a clip-on task lamp. And stretch a heavy duty enough wire across the top of the opening and complete it with a heavy doubled velvet drape with a drooping valance. Place a swag with fringe & jewels on it to be closed when not in use. Voila intrigue is yours!

The setting is quite tropical, so a darker scheme with white trims has such a tropical holiday feel. You may consider using a concrete face brick for the lower section. This will be modern, and eliminate the need for painting, while still creating contrast with the upper level. Try a colour for the main house like Resene Evolution, or Quarter Evolution, both would be perfect for your style of home. The colour scheme that we recommend for you is our Rainforest Board which includes everything you need to bring the look together! https://www.bodoboards.com.au/collections/paint-concept/products/rainforest-paint-concept We would love to see updates as you go.. its going to be great!