Start talking with realtors to sell or move. Or a bank to get a several hundred thousand dollar loan that maybe adds 1/3 of the anount to the home as value—-when you sell it. Meanwhile your monthly notes go up by $$$$

Most people leave sunken rooms alone, because you have to rewire the world and buy all new windows and change the grade outdoors and redo the entry. Its a suckyy black hole that you throw cash into with zero value coming out the other side. Its just an expense, and no upside.

Whether you need to rewire or buy new windows or doors is a function of what your sunken living room looks like. I'd imagine fixing many of them would be pretty easy.

Whether you need a designer or not is a function of your budget and your needs. For the living room, you might need new flooring. Do you need help choosing new flooring? Is the bathroom going to be a tight fit and having someone figure out the best configuration a benefit or will it be pretty straightforward? What's the scale of what you want to do to the kitchen?

I'd start with a budget, for which, I'd get some quotes from contractors. Sometimes, they'll give you a ballpark over the phone. If you have unlimited funds, maybe start interviewing consultants.

No, that's not a function of "looks". That's a function and consequence of the building code. And this person doesn't know what they don't know, and doesn't have a guide. Hiring a guide to get you safely through a swamp of alligators is usually a better idea than just going and buying a boat and getting lost on you own.

Here's a video to get you started, How to Replace a Window EASY He has good info on a range of areas. DIY.

Take lots of pictures of the project areas. Make a scale layout of your floorplan with lots of measurements. Ikea has a kitchen planning program.

Begin with a budget. Tell us what your total budget is, where you live, and post pictures of your space. We can tell you whether it is realistic or whether the scope of the work needs to be cut back.

How long have you lived in this house?

Those seem like three independent, unrelated projects. You might pick the smallest one and tackle it first, idea being to learn your lessons and make your mistakes on a small scale, as well as spreading out the money and disruption.

Maybe start with the closet-to-bathroom project. Go to Bathrooms, post a question with good clear floorplans and photos and explanation, get help with the design there, then decide if you still need the services of a ” bathroom designer “ (and maybe hire someone local), then hire a contractor to do it (unless you’re planning to DIY, which it doesn’t sound like).

Of course in that process if it makes sense for the electrician or plumber to bring lines to the sunken living room or kitchen in preparation for the future projects, consider that.

Thank you for all the comments. I've drawn some scaled floorplans of the house's current layout and proposed future layout. I've used the IKEA kitchen planner to get a feel of achievable layouts and researched recommended spacing. I've also spoken with a structural engineer and confirmed which walls are structural or not (the ones in red are non-structural and can be removed).

After much research and speaking with others, the kitchen and laundry renovations will mainly involve replacing cabinets, benchtops, tapware and splashbacks with electrical and plumbing lines staying as they are. The laundry floor tiles will remain as they are due to the waterproofing underneath.

The new ensuite has been laid out to share the plumbing with the existing bathroom behind it. I'm still deciding on whether the ensuite should have a window or not. Keen to hear what others think of a window or not.

We were originally thinking of raising the sunken room floor and keeping the room's door and window as they are, but with a step down to the door. However, I'm thinking it will look weird if they aren't raised since the top of the window and door for that room will be lower than the top of the doors and windows in other rooms. But I'd be interested in hearing what others think.

I have an old picture of repairs being made to the wall where the door and window are, and i think it's possible to raise them.

For raising the sunken room floor, I was originally thinking either concrete fill or timber. However, I've recently learned online whilst chatting with someone that EPS foam blocks could be used to fill the floor and a subfloor added on top, either wood or concrete. The foam blocks would be significantly lighter than filling the whole area with concrete fill but allow the finish to match the rest of the house's subfloor. I'm also planning to remove the house's white floor tiles due to their age and poor workmanship, then putting hybrid floorboards.

I've been in the house for 10 years and I'm planning to live in it long-term and raise my family in it. It's located in Brisbane, Australia and we've decided to raise the sunken room floor due to the risk of elderly family members who visit and stay with us.

I don’t think the tops of door and window not lining up with the other doors and windows would bother me, as they aren’t in the same room. They already don’t line up - compare family room window to kitchen window - but so what? That’s a personal thing though.

Having a step down to the door seems not ideal, especially with elderly people. And we’ll all be elderly someday, if we’re lucky.

If you raise the door threshold, then the step down to the patio will be considerable. Will you raise the patio surface with a deck or something? Ideally, I think you’d want all same level.

I visited Brisbane, almost thirty years ago. Very nice place!

Thank you John. I agree a step down to the door isn't ideal. I guess what I was thinking was to keep all the inside the same level and all the outside the same level. So there would be a step down to the patio. The step down would be roughly 175 to 180mm roughly speaking. But as you said it is definitely a personal thing.

Oh wow, that's quite some time ago. Yes, Brisbane is a nice place....growing quite rapidly, but I think that's the same for a lot of cities in Australia and possibly overseas.

I'm seeing a layout with more change. I'd move the kitchen into the lounge space with new access to the laundry. Take out the 'V' wall remaining in the updated layout. A good sized island with seating. Maybe facetted on the seating side for conversations. Dining in the old kitchen with a 4 chair table you could expand with leaves. And with the raised floor, an expansive lounge/living area.

I think it would be easy to add a wood deck to the concrete patio, making it all one level inside and out.

The good thing there is nothing major in that room that needs to be raised, even your receptacles can be left alone and cut into the base molding (it will cut the cost on rewiring). The header above the slider and the window is located under the plate, so there is nothing structural that needs to be done there; just remove the 2x packing above and raise the door and window under the header.

Not sure what's going on down below, other than that, just build-up the floor from bearing points, and level the floor with the existing; the rest is patching and cosmetic work.

Get a local architect, and he will provide you with details and permit drawings.

Good luck

Thank you GN Builders. Your input has helped me better understand what's involved in my job. I had been wondering whether the cripple studs between the header and window were structural. I know that if the cripple studs are located between the top plate and header, then they are structural. But from your response, it sounds like they're non-structural based on their location. Appreciate your help GN Builders

That's a great tip Julia. I'll definitely check that out. I'm always keen in getting inspiration on how to improve my space.

Thank you John. I agree, I think a wood deck on the concrete patio would be a easy job to do.