Hi annalisa 86 -- I see the lounge as your living room with sofa's, TV and in general, the place where you relax. The rectangular openings in the wall between the two rooms are beautiful, and are a unique feature in a home! Can you please provide more photos of each room to help us see the bigger picture and properly recommend where to place the furniture? Georgina has provided great options for the rumpus room: 1) cinema room, 2) home office, and 3) formal dining room. This is a large room with a sliding door to the balcony, which makes it a room that should be used for a purpose that makes a special statement. Do you love to cook and entertain family and friends? Do you have a barbecue grill out on the balcony? If so, a large, formal dining room would be perfect for this space, particularly during the summer when guests can go outside and enjoy being on the balcony too. Another idea is a game room with pool table, poker table, bar and small pub tables, which again, would be good if you like to entertain. You could give it a sports theme and have another TV here for friends to hang out and watch the game. This idea also goes well with having a barbecue grill and outdoor patio furniture on the balcony, so guests can move between the two areas. Or, you could make the living room a formal room and use it only on special occasions and use the rumpus room as the family room where everyone hangs out, watches TV and relaxes. You could even turn it into a multi-purpose room, where you have the family room, a sewing area (for example) and a home office. Can you tell us if your lifestyle fits any of these suggestions or if any of these ideas interest you? Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

Hi to everyone who replied with some really helpful suggestions. I have finally completed my lounge room and feel so happy and relieved! Please have a look at my after photos and let me know what you think. I rearranged and used what I already had at home so there was no extra cost (except for one cushion I bought). Thanks again!

I wouldn't give up on doing something about those downlights. Either remove at least half of them or paint the ceiling darker to hide them. They make the room look as if it has an illness and your ceilings are high enough to tolerate the colour. In order to make your room suit you, work out how you use it most and make " rooms" with your furniture. It has to suit your lifestyle and your taste. Remember furniture doesn't need to be against a wall. Personally I hate texture. I don't like the look of it or the feel of it, so I don't use it and I don't care what suits other people. You need to be able to sit in your room and wherever you look should please your eye. I think the curtains are a good idea, but they needn't be sheer. If they are a solid plain colour you can pull them back by day unless you need them to keep the sun out and close them at night for privacy. If you don't need curtains and you just want the doors to look better then go for sheers. Good luck. Trial and error will help you sort it out.

Thanks oklouise. we also need to heat these areas in winter as the front is south facing and it's freezing down there.. This was designed by an architect and the French doors - we liked the idea - making this room appear bigger and more light coming through. No original plan, we have the previous plan of the upstairs addition and it shows these rooms downstairs as they are. have included pics of the foyer, I know it's such a waste of space, but now we are used to it.