Are you able to open up any of the exterior wall? Just for inspiration have a look at this Houzz home https://www.houzz.com/photos/mill-valley-ca-transitional-deck-san-francisco-phvw-vp~207293 in America, I found this one early in my reno search and even though it is not exactly what you describe I love the way they have opened up the space to the outdoors with a contemporary take on rustic I think. Just keep finding inspiration and Houzz is a great source! feel free to browse my idea books too (there's a few) but they are a collection that may help.. get good advice before diving in and planning is SO important. My reno was 15 years in the making ..Whew! I will keep checking in if that's ok with you.

Yes, all the Houzzers have been extraordinarily helpful. I am sure in the end, it will be a beautiful room. With regards to the change of sofa style, I was unsure of my ability to keep the white leather clean - particularly the stitching. By finally going with the "Julio" it is slightly more comfy sofa than the "Ariel". It has a higher back and I feel the "granite" colour will give me less hassles. In reality, the "granite" colour has slight yellow/creme undertones which tie back better with the curtains but this doesn't really show up in pictures. Golly, I hope I am on the right track. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. Keep them coming please

HI Lyn Depends on where you live, but here in Auckland, Winstone Glass will give you a glass splashback in ANY Resene colour, which would mean you could get exactly what you want. Personally I have a white kitchen with white speckled granite tops, and all walls white, so I went with a black glass splashback that has an ever so slight sparkle at night, doesn't sparkle in daytime. Looks stunning. You can get cheap pre made splashbacks at Mitre 10, Bunnings etc, but they don't use the glasskote technology, so you can see in behind them, whereas Winstones ones, you can have white and not see the wall at all. Good luck Julie

I love your view! There's options here, and they'll be led by where your blinds are installed in my opinion. It looks like you might need to install the blinds to the face of the architraves, in which case, I'd be selecting pale blinds to sit outside the window as they'll, hopefully be up out of the way most of the time. If they fit inside the recess, then I'd select dark.