Thank you so much. I am standing in my kitchen looking at my shelves and you are so right. Why are all my items so short?? Rookie mistake. I will some height and depth. The rug is bring updated. I'm thinking something with creams or even tan and yes bigger is way better. I think I'll swap the chairs and couch as suggested. I like the light that comes in from that window when the chairs are there but I do think the space looks better with the chairs across from the fireplace . And we are looking for bigger, more comfy (but still modern) chairs diff colour. Thank you again!!

Having the dining table on front of the windows like you suggested won’t be an option I think. We tried and it looks awkward especially because we won’t get a 3 Meter table in there without looking overly crowded. Additionally we were thinking dying sliding doors towards the garden there and having an outdoor lounge area. The dining table would then block access. However we noticed that off cantering the dining table under the bulkhead doesn’t look too bad. And a solution for the dining table light could be a straight light with two suspensions left and right of the bulkhead.

Dee re the sink in the laundry in my previous plan, I was hoping that the vanity basin might do double duty? But I must say that if the powder room can be kept separate that is my first choice . If the laundry can become a European Laundry cupboard under the stairs that would be excellent. Your lovely old terrace needs to keep as much open space as you can achieve as this along with the new extension will allow important light iback nto this space and by tucking the laundry under the staircase works towards this I just saw that you are having my favourite bathroom layout with the Japanese Shower bath set up, well done

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I assumed my layout would be similar to that of other Californian Bungalows of the same period. It is helpful to learn my layout is reasonably uncommon and I am probably looking for inspiration in the wrong places. It sounds like Dr Retro House Calls and JRED are correct in steering me towards an interior designer. I hadn’t considered that option as I thought I would need a large budget for furniture and décor if going down that path. I’ll give Bigreader’s suggestion a go first and use scaled cut-outs of furniture to play around with furniture placement. If I still need guidance after that, I will look into interior design services. I initially shared your thoughts – Melt in ACT - and was thinking about turning the laundry space into a large bathroom and then moving the laundry to the small bathroom. Ultimately it was going to be too expensive… and seeing as I have young boys who get every item of clothing they wear dirty within 5 minutes of putting it on, it will be a bit of a luxury to have a big laundry. It's an idea I might revisit in the future though. Oklouise, I love all your ideas and suggestions and am really grateful for the time you’ve taken to respond. The floorplan you’ve put together is super helpful. I was bummed about the lack of space for an entry set down area and would have never thought about moving the bedroom door. I will definitely look into that. Good memory siriuskey- I did previously post about this house and I received a couple of good suggestions (including advice from you) around maximising kitchen bench space with a kitchen island and adding a storage wall near the small living spaces. I felt the advice sought in this post is sufficiently different to justify asking a new question about whether there are resources I may not be aware of and if people have ideas about the floor plan as a whole, including spaces I had not previously asked about. I’ve got lots of new ideas and really appreciate everyone taking the time to share their advice. This is a great forum/ community!