Hi Rosey, Hope these answers help: There are plenty of different ways you could redesign the space so it would be good to get really clear on what you want to base designs on. For the drains this is not that unusual, and is likely to mean that it is a shared drain, so it's owned by your water utility company. This might be worth checking. Yes any raised external platform / patio would need planning permission and may be refused on the grounds of overlooking and reducing the neighbours privacy. I am running my Free 5 Day Get Ready to Redesign Challenge in a few weeks. You will find this useful because I created it to help people in the situation that you are in - feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start. So if you'd like to join in that you can do that here: https://www.i-architect.co.uk/readytoredesign.html I hope this helps! Jane, i-architect.co.uk

Hi - congratulations on your new house in our beautiful city! Your vestibule glass is stunning and if you like it as much as I do, I would consider taking design direction from that .... it will subtly remind you of/prepare you for that 'wow' factor as you approach your home. I wouldn't lose the external door if you value the heat retention/security, but you could change it to the style of the inner door, which will also add light. Mostly I would concentrate on using elements of those colours from the vestibule glass on the outside of your home - namely the yellow, deep red and black. I love Bristol painted houses, but if you want to keep to a neutral paint on the render then just experiment with ways you can use these colours as accents, eg door colour or detail on the door surround, dark window cills, dark brick red or nearly-black path, and definitely planting (especially the LHS of the path & RHS of the door). Depends on your budget but I'd recommend tiling the front step, and then maybe save money by using concrete paint on the path. Have fun experimenting with different ideas by 'photoshopping' a picture of your home before you spend any money! :-)

Hi, That is very excessive. But currently builders are charging a premium due to the demand I am told by my architect. We are just about to commence our 3m rear extension which involved refurb of the current kitchen and dining as well (the wall between them is already down) but we will be putting in utility room and downstairs bathroom as well in the configuration with full width bifold on a box frame and underfloor heating. The build cost alone for this is about 50K (exc vat) and then we have factored in about 20-25k for finishing including kitchen. And this is in SW London. So my advise is to shop around and ask as many builders. We had quotes as high as 80k just for the build but the average ballpark was about 65.

I think kitchen / diner to the garden always works best. Nice social use of space… might just nick your idea for our house 😝