Hello Ellen, Are you looking for something magnificent but effortless... Serene but a statement.. Consider darks for walls... I'm really into this at present.. Navy and charcoal walls teamed with warm woods like mahogany or dark stained wood brings a rich element.. Golds and coppers also bring a lovely striking contrast.. Antique mirrors and accessories.. Lighting and table lamps.. Chalky ceilings to compliment the look is also highly complimentary.. Little Greene do a favourite called Whitening.. for ceilings and walls it's really beautiful.. I'd choose charcoal or navy and very matt rather than simply grey.. For bathrooms or adjoining bathroom a wet room and copper or nickel bath would be really beautiful... There are many companies now producing the roll top but you can choose a variety of shapes... Will enclose a couple of pics to illustrate what I mean. Some elements I'd choose differently but this is the idea.. I also enclosed a really quick mood board I used for someone wanting copper tones on a dark wall.. So perhaps these ideas are useful.. . : ))

@ Kat, sounds wonderful. Like a nest . My bed is in the only place it fits. In front of it is the closet to the right the window and to the left the bedroom door. The window wall is too small even for my double bed. I like it here however I can see out the window and watch the door. Not being able to see the door makes me nervous, no idea why. Being able to see out the window and get a nice breeze is good too. My former room was much larger, I had the bed between double windows facing the bedroom door. Loved that set up too.

@mlk01, You are right about the message button, I have it on my profile but no one else seems to so that's odd! If you click on my profile for example, you will see on the top line right beside the profile picture: Your house, Ideasbook, Bookmarks, Activities, Messages. In fact I remember that when anyone typed a reply like I'm doing now, you used to be able to click a "private" button, which meant only the person you were typing to saw your comment. Perhaps Houzz can answer these anomalies?? I'm not on Facebook or Twitter, never got into it and have no reason to do so anytime soon ha-ha As for talking privately to someone, you could post your email address here as could oklouise and delete it whilst you are still able to edit, as I've done once in the past. Just not sure how long the edit feature lasts.

ok, here's the new floor plan, I've taken your advice and did some adjustments. with the bathroom I'm very happy now, thanks oklouise, I've just done a few changes to better suit the way we live. moving the guest bath over gave me more room for the pantry, although on paper the entrance/pantry area looks a bit awkward now so I'm hoping for some more of your great ideas (ps siriuskey, I know the pantry corner in the kitchen is a bit of a space waster, I just fell in love with a picture or two, so if I just search enough I should be able to get my head - or rather heart - around a more practical solution ). I'm not sure about moving the kitchen door to the left as it's the main access also for the living and dining room and would direct traffic through the work zone. and oklouise, you asked for an overall vision of our house, so here it is: we live in a beautiful valley with no close neighbors and most of our lives happen outdoors. it will be only my husband and me living there with occasional overnight guest. while we build we'll be living in a granny flat so one spare bedroom will be enough. the living, dining and master bed windows will face north towards the view and the sun. as we spend so much time outside we want our house to be a cosy home with the occasional big entertaining happening outside. our plan is to build a strawbale house with open post and beam, I love the combination of warm grey and timber. just not too rustic and heavy, think scandinavian lightness (I'm from the north of Germany and spend most holidays in Scandinavia) and add some cheerful south American accents (where my husband comes from) we like to cook together, that's why we need a good sized kitchen. and it's my dream to come inside after work into a beautiful bathroom, where I can enjoy getting fresh and clean instead of trying to get out of there as quickly as possible ok, that was a lot, hope I haven't lost you half way through but I'm really grateful for your input and support