I think you should consider building a small plant room at the western end and have all the ancillaries (batteries, power regulators, tanks etc) rather than losing space in the living areas.

With regards the plant room idea I couldn’t agree more and came here to say this. I gutted every service out of our cottage and built a “boiler shed” where there is a 1500L hot water storage tank with a log gasification boiler and a 300L fresh water hot water tank along with spring water filtration. But then build Another shed for your inverter and batteries. This way you don’t have anything taking up valuable space and more importantly if there is a leak or worst case a critical battery failure there are no issues with your house.

Hey guys! How exciting for you🎉 A few suggestions FROM AN INTERIOR DESIGNER for the floor plan layout: 1) extend the kitchen cabinets or put a pantry on the left side to the wall, it will have cleaner lines, as you won't walk behind the armchair 2) Install French door or sliding doors in the lounge room, onto a deck for outdoor/indoor living 3) consider a round dinning table, better for circulation in small space and more communal feeling with guests or rotate the current direction for better flow 4) extend the bathroom wall to meet the end of the kitchen cabinet it will feel cleaner and swap the toilet and basin position, close off the bedroom entry and install a pocket door for entry from the entryway (you don't want to have to walk through the bedroom if you quickly need the toilet or wash your hands (also you are loosing precious space for hallways/walking areas where they can be used for storage etc) etc 5a) Install a linen cabinet inside the bathroom with the extra space or 5b) Install a linen cabinet on the entryway side so that the kitchen cabinet isn't over extended with the bathroom pocket door slide behind the linen cabinet space 6) reposition the bedroom door to the middle of the pathway from the lounge room (consider a pocket door or if you want a swinging door have it swing right to the window side of the bedroom) this will look more streamline and also give you space right next to the front door to put a bench for putting on your shoes/shoe storage under bench/jacket hooks above 7) Build a wood extension on the outside of the bedroom/lounge wall for all the "plant/solar room" 8) Install sliding door wardrobe against the full back wall where you had the "plant/solar room" 9) move the bed over to include a bedside table on the window side you will appreciate walking around both sides of the bed for years to come. Hope this help 🙏 ❤

The house must be so pleased to be lived in again. There is nothing so sad as a neglected abandoned house.

Put garage & tools shed & wood storage were the rocks storage is

It’s your house.  No apologies and explanations necessary. People can do what they like to their own spaces.

Seriously, this place is gonna be amazing. Cant wait to watch the progress

Discovered your channel and journey recently! Love that you have taken on this challenge, and your approach and attitude to it. Keep up the amazing work. We really appreciate your sharing this process with all of us.

💥💥 Keep hyping everyone. These two are on the leaderboard 💥💥

Instead of a big window would you do a door so that you can use the outdoor space as a outdoor dining area in the summer and connect the inside to the outside and your pergola

Hi Beth and George, I know you are getting lots of suggestions for the little track down to your stone pile. I think it would be very useful for you to built a large high roofed open ended multi-purpose shed - one side to store your van later, when you are in the house, but also the other side for machinery, such as ride on mower, maybe a rotary digger to dig your large potato and vegie patches. You may also eventually choose to harvest some hay from your flower meadow at the end of summer, which could also be stored in such a shed. If you end up having your own cow for fresh milk and to make your own cheese, the hay would be good winter feed. Talking of having a cow, you could also put a milking stall in the shed. 😃🙃

The Scandinavian look is quite common in Irish homes, it'll give the place a lovely open airy feel.
When you said big window in the living area, maybe bifold doors or patio doors would work better - that way you can have access straight outside in summer (you know those 2 to 3 days we get each year 😅)
A for the window frames crisp white for a classic look, dark charcoal or black for a bold modern contrast, or soft grey/earthy green to tie in natural surroundings.
Whatever you decide - it'll look gorgeous

If your cottage isn't listed I suggest you knock it down and build new footings and floor level up at least 2 ft off the ground.  A good house is only as good as it's foundation.  I'm a retired architect with lots of experience in building cosy homes.

Best of luck with all of this I’m sure it will be lovely and you will learn so much along the way. A note of caution: these old cottages need  materials that allow the walls to breathe eg lime render, if you use concrete or materials that don’t allow the walls to breathe, your house will be riddled with damp and mould so if the engineer did not raise this with you then my advice is to find an engineer who understands these old Irish cottages.

You two are the sweetest vlog hosts!  Your plans look incredible!

Hi guys, been with you from the start. Love your channel and your energy and enthusiasm to tackle any and all jobs.
I like your ideas for the internal layout.
But…. And it’s just a (hopefully helpful) observation.
Given that your roof is coming off, the wall plate needing to go higher, windows out and raised, the internal wall/chimney coming down and the floors needing to be lifted. Once you’ve done all that bit of back breaking work, you are effectively left with 4 poorly insulated walls and no roof plus some questionable footings and foundations. Given you want the airiness and Scandinavian clean lines feel you want I think it will be more efficient, cost effective and ultimately a sounder building I’d knock it down and put in a solid slab and footings and build up to roof height with block and good insulation. Your digger man James will have it down in a day and you’d have the footings and slab in a week. Then your walls would go up straight, solid and quickly. As someone who has built and renovated lots of times take it from me, working around your 4 remaining walls will take much longer & cost much more. You’ve enough good stone on site to make feature walls internally and create the desired finish you want. I’d also add a utility with all your plant room equipment separate to your living rooms.
This way you create the warm and cosy home you want without having to work around 200 year old design issues.
It’s your home, so you must go with your own thoughts but from someone who has the scars I thought an alternative perspective maybe helpful.

Great tiny space!!! Don't have the solar gear in the bedroom. Build a solar shed outside, plenty of examples online. No sense taking space from your inside when batteries and inverters are all rated to be outside.

Also if you are doing a water borehole you could look into geothermal heating. Failing that I would also look at air to air which is much more efficient than air to water plus you have no or minimal plumbing, no underfloor (can go electric anyway) or rads again good for tiny spaces

Forget bi folding doors, they take up too much space  Having wall space will be better in the long term.  we opted for a French window, saved on cost and gave us more space and still looks great.

A drive through garage on that little road. Have doors at each end. You could keep the van there eventually and a space for a workshop or car.

Hi beth and george , i am in Scotland in a old cottage with thick sandstone walls, theses walls need to breath  so they dont get damp,  they are also great heat thermal insilator if you keep the heat in them , ie base heating all winter and in summer the house will be cool and stay that constant temp which is great in hot weather , my external walls are lime pointed and also roughcast in areas internal walls throughout house are also thick and again a great heat/cooling  sources  most have been left exposed and pointed again , have one wall a mix with it also painted, again this is external breathable paint so the walls can breath. Double check your plans so this old cottage can breathe and not cause you damp issues further down the line. Loving watching your journey,  my house was done by my dad 40 plus years ago, and your plan ideas are all yours and lovely 😊