Thank you. I definitely agree with your throw idea. I've been looking for a chunky knit but nothing has stood out yet. Any thoughts on what colour to paint it? Our splash back on the island in in front of the oven is grey.

The photo below is my suggestion for colour of floor. Furniture should be darker - similar to below. For the rug - choose one colour from the artwork and find a similar coloured rug. Don't put a mantle over the fireplace - it could be a health hazard - bumps and bruises. Blinds - unless you want them to make a statement I think white - to match window frames would be fine.

Hi I have work in the building Industry for many years before venturing into Landscaping and Design. It come to this having a split level can be easy but you will need to think would you like to come up and down multi level home. I had a multi level home at Bonnells Bay (Newcastle) N.S.W. and found after living there for 5 year a bit of chore to go up and down the level so much. A single level flow better to go with a Alfresco Dinning experience, as if you have a guest at your house been entertain on the outside it make it hard to find a toilet if needed. I would say to your husband to weigh up the cost, it is simple and as follows a retaining wall of one level, can be anything from stone or besser block or timber. These element will be what you can afford to do, the stone and besser are the most expensive of the 3 but require the less maintenance and last the longest. Timber can be low cost, but has the tendency to decay over time and has a life span of no longer then 5-8 year, depending on environmental conditions. A retaining wall of that height of 1.5m, tend to need a engineering spec to built and so my advise is to go for the besser as it the cheaper then stone. if your are concern on look of the besser, it can dressed up with stone looking tile or there a number of option to go for. is to get the costing of doing a multi level home design. This can be costly too depend on if it going to be slab or bears and joist home, as the cost differ and different type of process have to happen. You got to ask yourself, is my house raise of the ground or is a slab that sit directly on the ground. to put it to you as simple as I can, for a slab need steel and pier to be dug and so on, so if this is the case then with your current house is siting on a cut and fill which is common for this type of slab construction. Where a Bearers and joist system sit on top of a raised pier that come off the ground. this is what a lot of the older style home have, the only thing about this not a lot of builder and trades people do not how to do this as it a dying art of constructing house. final option is to do a raise slab which raises like a retaining wall but in face bricks and a slab is pore on top but not seen form the outside and the face bricks continues As for the design of your house it all up to what you want for a house, you have to ask yourself can I use this for the long term or is something I want rather then need. Sometime we over compensate for thing and the saying in design is less tends to be best. a flowing design is a happy one and can be more of a chore to go with something that is wanted then needed. A little tip for your kitchen, make shore that the sink, stove and fridge are in a triangle form from each other as this flow the best when cooking. Any tip of knowledge on retaining wall just send me a message

Hi ronmarg77, Personally, I'd take that lovely fireplace and turn it into a feature of the room! It already has that lovely brickwork around in that gives it a theatrical feel. I would suggest moving that armchair away from the fireplace to open up the wall, and mounting the TV on the wall as well. The colour palette of the room is quite neutral, so adding a splash of colour via a rug or some cushions would elevate the appeal. Depending on what the other side of the room is like, you could add a potted plant to throw a splash of greenery and colour to the room. You could then fill the emptiness on the wall that's either side of the fireplace with some lovely art pieces. These would keep the room cosy, but not clutter up the floor space, thus allowing the fireplace to still be the main feature. To really maximise the warmth that a fire brings, I'd recommend some warm toned pieces, such as this dyptich, Rock and Trees, by popular artist, Penelope Oates. These two pieces would sit nicely next to the fireplace https://bluethumb.com.au/penelopeoatesart/Artwork/rocks-and-trees-diptych Some other warm artworks I'd suggest are: https://bluethumb.com.au/ric-burkitt/Artwork/january-landscape-richard-burkitt https://bluethumb.com.au/emily-lauro/Artwork/an-autumn-walk https://bluethumb.com.au/tjukupati-james/Artwork/17-450-alpi https://bluethumb.com.au/penelopeoatesart/Artwork/stratasphere If you mounted the TV on the wall on one side of the fireplace, then an artwork would balance out the other side. I hope this helps!