Thanks houssaon and rinqreation! Funny - hubby has the same 2 door hate! It sounds like I'm being outvoted on the shared ensuite idea. :) We've actually been set on both the configurations you suggested, we moved away from yours houssaon because we really wanted to keep a closed off office space (and hubby built the front deck and landing already for the door at the end of the hallway!). And I don't know why we shifted the door on the bedroom back to the same area, I think it was about having easy access to all the kids bedrooms. But maybe we should shift it back as you suggest rinqreation. Joice, the door at the end of the hallway is the front door, the entrance closest to the street, that you would come to first if you were a visitor. Not totally necessary, but we reinstated it before we decided we wanted the entrance up the stairs (middle bottom) which would be under a carport. Thanks for all your input!! It's really helpful to have some unattached opinions. I'm keen to hear from anyone else on the shared ensuite or 2 door hate question! :)

Hi Gerné - thought I could give you some ideas on how to maximise this kitchen on a low budget. You've added some great photos here to demonstrate the space! From what I can see you have a minimalistic style and lean more towards stainless and monochromatic materials, (love your tap by the way) - There are a number of ways you could add a little more storage and character without spending much.. In the photo there are numbers for reference; 1. I would investigate floating shelves - there are a number of different colours, widths, and lengths to suit the space accordingly. installing these on each side of your splash back would add a bit more storage for your favourite pieces i.e.; vases, baskets, soft accents.. this is more about proving a space to add individuality rather than practical storage. - bare in mind that these need to be installed on load bearing walls - from personal experience they can slant and sag if not completed correctly. 2. This space looks narrow from the photo - you can find a great range of shelving units from Freedom Furniture.. I would recommend a corner unit or a thin & long shelf, I would go with black to retain the scheme here. Kmart has also got some great pieces that I think would fit well into your scheme - check out their Urban Range! 3. Luckily there is storage space up here - I would utilise it for things that aren't used as often that you wouldn't mind getting on a step ladder to retrieve. I have added some photos of above cabinet storage for some inspiration. 4. I would also recommend utilising this space; from the photo this looks nice and wide and would accomodate a free standing shelf well. If you have heard of IKEA I would check out Urban Sales - unfortunately there is no IKEA in NZ - however this is a trusted retailer that supplies products from the store to NZ. Hope this helps! - Also I would recommend investing in additional cabinet space against this wall (5) it would add a huge amount of storage for your family and their needs. I have tried to find the most inexpensive options for you as I am aware of cost. Happy to come at this from another angle if this isn't what you were looking for!

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Modern, sophisticated and lively were the key deliverables for this city suburb townhouse. The overall scope involved an upgrade to the open plan kitchen, dining and living areas including flooring, wall colour, curtains and kitchen joinery. Modernising the space through new colours and materials was the focus, without having to extensively rearrange the layout. This Mt Victoria Kitchen is now a refreshing, well functioning and lighter space. The well balanced combination of timbers, light marble tones and splashes of colour and pattern, such as the soft blue, hexagonal splashback, bring a delicate energy to the top floor. Before: After: Creating access to storage on both sides of the lounge facing island bench. The cupboards behind the dining table are minimal looking and tucked away to appear as panels, but allow for extra storage behind. The open timber shelves create an area for book storage and display, which improves the view from the lounge/dining direction. This breaks up what otherwise would have been a very deep, unusable storage if it were only to be accessed from the kitchen side. Before: After: Open timber shelves above the island on the end, offering a more accessible storage from the dining side of the room. At the same time this was a great opportunity to add in an extra area for display to further improve the view onlooking the kitchen. Before: After: The new kitchen design included tweaking small areas of cabinetry and maximising the available space, whilst also incorporating design features that didn’t compromise any of these functional gains. Before: After: Even with a sloping ceiling and staying within the existing footprint, the new kitchen looks fresh, the space is more streamlined and is easier to use. Before: With the number of corners in this layout it was important that storage space wasn’t lost in these areas. After: Using speciality corner fittings that rotate and extend to improve the access to the deep corner spaces was a must-have solution here.