I think you could get the telly put over the fireplace. Might need a mantle to deflect radiant heat, not sure. But on the cables and power, I imagine they can get that sorted. Im guessing there is a wall behind you when you took the photos. I agree that a low corner modular sofa would look great. Just don't get it so long that it is up against the fireplace wall. Placed into that corner of end and piano walls . Then pop your cute chair where the sofa is now. Large ( big enough for the sofa front legs sit on it, I'm guessing 2x3m or even 3x4m) patterned rug to define the area. Can you move the piano to another room or against the computer area wall? Can you make the small windowed room the homework hub? Imagine a long bench against the window ( Ikea do a good cheap range that you make to fit your space). Ensuring the computers are in line of sight from the kitchen(?). Pull out the table to give it more space around it. Or flip it to run the other direction. Hard to tell from the pics the dimensions. Paint a lighter shade as mentioned before. A sketch of your floorplan would be really helpful :)

Hello Megan, i have read the comments, and I agree practicality is paramount, also it's a large investment and would be not be ideal to have purchased this with an awkward setting. Particularly entertaining. i think the 1200mm diameter table is a great spot. It loses a dinner plate in depth, meaning it's a seated table not a serving one. So it will work to have a shared centrepiece maybe a glass vase of flowers and the pendant over. It will suit your family, it would be an intimate setting, and ideal to have the luxury of an upholstered chair. Certainly far from a compromise. Being that your dining table is only a hop away from the kitchen, the table itself doesn't need to have a large top for serving setting anyway. Yes, centre it, even though you may be tempted to allow more room in the walkway, don't, by having a visual space equal to walk around will make it feel less intrusive in the space, and you will quickly settle into walking around it to suit. Just position your chairs on the diagonal axis meaning so they back out to the corners of the room, so you can get around them easier, they won't block in the space. Having a glass top, it won't look over scaled, and it will make practical use of every square inch of your homeow. Good luck, I'm keeping myself posted on it.

I love my Asko dishwasher, great brand, it has many options, like water temp, top draw only if it's not full, fast wash, heavy wash, etc it actually uses less water for the normal wash than the full bowl on my sink. Our house is on all rain water so no need for the finish product to get rid of the calcium in the town supply that leaves the streaks. As someone with a spine problem, standing in one position doing the dishes is a real pain! We are building what should be our last house at present and I have designed our kitchen to have the dishwasher up off the floor with a draw under it, that way when packing and unpacking there is less of that half bend for my back. Just in passing I have a 'black belt' in dishwasher packing everything goes in and the kitchen is clean in jiffy! When I was working full time it was my sanity, I think a clean kitchen makes every home look like a clean home.

Well after a very (very very very) long time my Living Room is all but complete. There is some work to do behind the new steps and some trim to be put on the bookshelves. A light is to be put between the couches (that the electrical cable hanging down) and the wall lights are going to be removed. So just a quick rundown on what has been achieved; Two sky windows - Velux - roofing guy Sheeted under the beams - plasterer New carpet – Bunnings – carpet layer Closed off the old bar and put in a door – builder and plasterer Installed ceiling fans – Hunter, remote control, reversible – electrician Installed downlights - electrician Painted the endwalls – Solver Paint but Dulux Chine White colour - me Painted the ceiling – 2 x coats Solver Ceiling White over 2 x coats plaster board sealer - me New blinds (venetians) and curtains - from Spotlight - me Installed a gas bayonet heater (until I can afford a gas ‘wood’ fire for the fireplace – cripes they are expensive) – secondhand from Garage Sale - me Installed bookshelves – 2 x 202mm high + 2 x 106mm high Billy Bookshelf and 2 x Brimnes Cabinet - me Built and installed new steps and bench top on bookshelf – laminated Beech bench top, cut to size and routed, stained and oiled - me Sofas – Ikea Ektorp - me So some things I would have done differently. The downlights would be warm white not welding mask white. In fact I would re-think the whole light thing and possibly use lights with reflectors that were dark so that light was only reflected down. They would ‘lower’ the ceiling and make the room cosier I think. I kinda like the ceiling fans but had seen some which were awesome but really expensive. Then I saw ones very similar to the awesome ones but much cheaper but by then it was too late. I should have put bi-fold doors where the old bar was instead of a swinging door. I suspect that it will be unlikely now that I can use the room for its intended purpose. In fact with hindsight I coulda shoulda done the job myself rather than getting a builder in. It’s not as good as it should be and that has disappointed me. The bookshelves have come a up a treat – need to finish them off though with some trim. All from ‘Ikea’ except for the timber bench top. The bench top was a light bulb moment and breaks up the all-white appearance of the shelves. Also the white of the shelves and the white of the cabinet were slightly different and the bench has helped disguise that. The bench top and the steps were laminated beech panels from ‘Bunnings’ that I had cut to size. I stained them, put a router over the edge to round it off and then coated with Tung Oil. The bookshelves look bigger in real life than they do in the photos too. So now to sit and enjoy my handy work.