The kitchen at the edge of the brief

They plan a services diagram first: keep or move the footprint, lock fixtures and appliance SKUs, read official wet-area rules, budget in AUD planning bands with assumptions, then brief one person to run the trade sequence in an occupied house. Style comes after the tape measure, the rangehood duct, and the skip permit.

A cosmetic refresh keeps the layout, waterproofing, and most cabinets or tiles and changes what you can see: paint, handles, tapware, a screen, sometimes an appliance. A full renovation strips the room, redoes services or membranes as needed, and replaces joinery or the entire wet area. The jump in cost and disruption is the hidden work, not the tap finish.

Treat published figures as planning bands, not quotes. A modest cosmetic refresh is often discussed around $8,000–$20,000; a mid-range same-footprint kitchen commonly lands around $25,000–$55,000; custom joinery, stone, and premium appliances regularly run $60,000–$120,000+. Layout changes and structural work sit above that and are site-specific, often discussed around $80,000–$150,000+ when walls or services move. See the kitchen cost guide for assumptions.

Cosmetic bathroom work is often discussed around $8,000–$18,000. A mid-range same-footprint gut with new waterproofing is commonly $15,000–$35,000. Moving wastes or expanding the room typically $25,000–$50,000+ and luxury expansions more again. Waterproofing and access (upstairs, occupied house) move the number more than chrome.

Like-for-like finishes inside an existing bathroom often do not need a planning permit, but licensed plumbing is still licensed plumbing, waterproofing must meet current wet-area rules, and moving walls, windows, or the wet area into another room can trigger building approval. The test is your state building authority and a registered practitioner — not a forum thread. We point to the NCC and state regulators; we do not invent clause numbers.

Yes, and it is the cheapest way to a new room. Keeping the toilet, shower waste, and basin rough-in where they are avoids opening floors and chasing walls. You can still replace every visible fixture. The design constraint is the stack and the fall you already have.