Hi AnAhitA Nazari, I totally agree. I actually don't intend to keep the couch on that wall, it just happens to be there due to the renos we are doing at the moment. I thought one of the red chairs under that print on an angle would be better and maybe a little table with a lamp on it? I can't change the colour of the walls as we have just finished painting it so I'm stuck with it. The room is part of a big room which has a partition 5ft wall separating it from the dining room. I'm thinking of putting the sofa on that wall and the other chair on its right hand side. As for the furniture in that room I do realise it's not a great choice but they have lots of memories to me so once again I'm stuck with them lol

We built about ten years ago. If you've ever read Susan Susanka's books about the "not so big house" concept, that's where we were coming from. The attention went into the efficient design of the house in relation to topography and orientation, and into the quality of fittings. We didn't want to have rooms we didn't use. So, 165 sq m, 3 bedrooms (one became the study), a small but very efficient g- shaped kitchen, open living/dining. We did have two bathrooms - one en suite, the other a combined bathroom /laundry - but while both had showers, neither had a tub. Bathrooms without tubs aren't very marketable to families with young kids, admittedly, but older folk often prefer showers. I do yhink having only one bathroom is problematic, but sticking with 3 beds, no study, isn't. We have an aging population looking for smaller, better houses.

Great to hear that you have had a good experience in an unpopular neighborhood. Our first home was an ex-army house in the extremely unpopular South Auckland of New Zealand. All we could afford then... and we lived there happily for seven of eight years. We loved our home and our initial neighbors, many of whom we are still friends with. But as folk moved on and a rougher element moved in, break-ins began happening, clothes stolen off the clothesline, plants, pots, ornaments, swing sets and even a trampoline! It was no longer safe to leave a door unlocked let alone open. The crunch came when youths began to harass our children walking to and from school simply because they believed it was their right to take what they wanted (uniform and shoes, food) and trying to force them to buy drugs, We moved on. I guess it comes down to; is it just an unpopular demographic area? or is it a rough area, gang related residents, drugs on the street etc? The question does not stipulate why an area may be deemed unpopular. I said above to choose the better area and this is what we did second time around, we live in a preferred area of a demographically unpopular rural town in Otago, NZ and love it here. We have renovated and will be mortgage free in our retirement. However we would never again live in an area unpopular because of the crime rate.

Is that a photoshopped pic of your place , or just a similar place ? There are too many styles trying to happen there IMO , not only the windows , and like oklouise says , somethings don't quite look right . I'd do bars ( frames ) about 200mm from the top of the two upstairs sets of windows , to match the downstairs style . Unlike ok lou , I don't like louvres -- they are drafty and don't really achieve much IMO -- a kid can put their hand and/or toys and/or your valuables out there , my personal preference is top-hinged with a folding stay at the sides , so they open 150-200mm but no further -- no-one can climb or fall in or out , can stay open overnight if warm , etc . I don't particularly like the upstairs balcony and gable , but I'm not keen on the entrance door treatment either , and without knowing what it looks like now , I may be tempted to replicate the 'double square' look of upstairs , downstairs too -- make it all the same theme . I'd keep the garage in the off-white , because if you look at the right side , both downstairs and upstairs look a bit boring IMO , with that flat dark finish -- the garage door done the same would add to the slab look . And while I'm being picky -- I personally think the black or extremely dark grey is too dark -- toned back just a bit would be better IMO -- you don't want it to look obviously grey , but a nice charcoal IMO . And finally -- the column bases look 'dirty' -- imagine how they would look in a gloss black tile on the top and also the 'skirtings' ( or a gloss black paint at a pinch ) ; with white gloss tiles where you have a light grey ( or , again , maybe the same paint as your other trim , but $5k of tiling would really add to those ) -- I think that would work with your black , or even a charcoal , 'main' colour . Anyway , just suggestions , and purely my viewpoint -- it's quite a nice but still simple design , just a couple of small things that would bug me if it was my place .