Just wanted to post the most recent plan that incorporates all of the suggestions that I have received from the very helpful people on the Internet! Changes made: - added an extra bathroom on far left of the house near kids bedrooms - changed the toilet/main bathroom to move the shower over to the toilet room so that we could have 2 separate kids showering at a time (without coming into our room - although that remains and option) - moved the door to the library so that it doesn't look into the toilets/bathroom - optimised the space in our bedroom by moving walk in closet and bathroom around. This modification even allowed us room for a tub in the bathroom a so thankful for that suggestion! Now we just have to find room in the budget lol Questions: - when you walk into a bathroom, do you prefer to walk into a shower (from the door) or into a toilet? What would you prefer visible from the door itself? Logically you are going to use a toilet 9 times out of 10 so you would think that should be there first, but there is something odd about walking past a door and just seeing a toilet there... Thoughts? - is there enough room in the 2 bathrooms we created by joining the toilet and main bathroom? Dimensions are 3m by 2m (roughly) and with a shower coming out about 1m and the vanity about 550mm, that leaves more or less 1.45m to walk around, surely sufficient? If there are any other suggestions or thoughts on what you would do if this was your home we would greatly appreciate the feedback. Thanks you all so much in advance!

You might paint the walls a bold color you really love, but I would recommend staying away from wallpaper as it is costly and too difficult to change. I agree with another poster that wider trim around the doors would help, and I would suggest that you paint all the trim white and add crown molding and a mop-board along the floor-wall junctures. I love the wood-tone door and would keep it as an accent piece and for contrast. You might add large, framed mirrors to the walls to reflect light and perhaps add a console table with a fairly large lamp. An interesting print area rug also can add pizzazz to this space. If you can use the bold wall color as an accent throughout the house, it will help to tie the entire color scheme together and give your home a unified look. In the offset hallway shown in Photos Two, Three, and Four, I would suggest you place a desk and chair and/or perhaps some bookcases and curio cabinets to make an interesting entrance way that can double as a study or home office. As an alternative, you could place a narrow dining table with leaves that fold down to allow easy traffic through the hallway. Above the table you could display some framed mirrors and, in matching frames, family photos that can serve as conversation starters. When you entertain, the fold-down dining table could be pulled out and/or moved to another room to accommodate your guests.

Thanks Mel. We'll see what we can do to make the rumpus enclosed - it's probably more of a "man cave" at the moment :) Grandad had a dining table in his current place (which is bigger) and got rid of it because he never used it. He also wants more bench space than he currently has. So, this was a deliberate choice rather than a compromise due to lack of space. You've reminded me now that someone did warn us earlier in the design process about the back and forth between wardrobe and bathroom becoming annoying over time. We don't currently have an en suite so it feels wonderfully convenient for us by comparison. However, that feeling will change if we realise it could have been even better. We did have the en suite off the wardrobe in some designs but have been warned this can lead to dampness in your clothes no matter how well ventilated the bathroom is (especially in Auckland's humidity). Would love to hear people's experiences of this configuration - good and bad. On top of that, there are lovely private bush views to the south so we've tried to make the most of those.

Hi Daryl, it sounds like you've got a lot of work cut out for you, but congratulations on buying your forever home! Regarding the kitchen, have a look at Blum's ideas for practical kitchens. There you'll find different layout ideas, storage solutions and inspirational ideas which will help with making use of the space available to you, without having to expand over the deck. Good luck with your renovations!