Hi jtoot222 Assuming you enter at the short side I would lay the tiles along the 7340 wall at both end tiles 420mm and all others 500 mm. The other direction you start at both sides with 557 mm tiles and then 4 rows of 1m. That way the cut tiles have a good size and the room will appear more square. BUT, there are 2 aspects I would take into consideration when designing the layout: 1. where is your furniture (an area where you can fudge (hide small cut tiles) IF you have several entries and are particular about starting at the entry with a full tile. This is only advisable if you are sure the cut edge is permanently hidden from view! AND 2. the main entry / vista into the room. If it's NOT along the short wall, i.e. you don't mainly look into the longer depth of your room, then you might prefer laying the tiles in the other direction. (670 , 6 x 1000, 670 along long wall & 257, 9 x 500, 257 along short wall). I personally prefer to look at tiles perpendicular/ cross-ways, which by the way, might be the reason why the next 'houzzer' doesn't like his tiles in the long hallway. They enhance the length. If you are unsure send me a floor plan with furniture lay out, glad to advise.

I have not read all of the above. It must be tempting to render and paint the fireplace but if it is decided to work with it then maybe you can find your colour palette in the bricks. The new grey carpet will give you a fresh neutral but grey can be very cold. you might need a bit of warmth in the others colors chosen for walls or soft furnishings. If you extend the tile base in front of the fireplace that will give another opportunity to introduce more impact with the tiles. There are always lots of gorgeous tile options. I am loving some of the Moroccan looking styles.

I would re-evaluate my brief, my budget and my site. It is another case of trying to squeeze too many rooms into too small a space and compromising the living space. If you draw furniture to scale in your living room then you will see that it is undersized for a four bedroom home. With the best orientation going to the garage door and bedroom 4 I would look at a complete redesign by pushing some of the bedrooms to the rear, and a central courtyard to give you an opportunity for north facing light to a living room. There is nothing nice about the current design and will feel like an apartment with little resale appeal. The designer has shown no flair or imagination in this "gun-barrel" floorplan, and is a variation on a concept that has been around for centuries. But your biggest problem is the number of rooms. Do you really need 4 bedrooms plus a study and 2.5 bathrooms, a long wasteful hallway, and only one modestly sized open plan living area and kitchen on a narrow block? I would start again with a smaller brief and a designer who can challenge your thinking about what good small house design actually means. Small house design is the hardest to do really well, so don't use a large house designer. Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits

Yes, I can't help but feel that I will regret moving the entry @afjp! My husband is keen, but I know that I'll hate it, walking halfway down the house just to enter. Thank you for your suggestions. @oklouise, you really have gone above and beyond - giving us a lot of food for thought! Thank you for taking the time to fiddle with our floor plan. Lots of options there. We can't go toward the front boundary anymore, unfortunately, but I like your thinking! @siriuskey, thank you too for taking the time to share your ideas - It is much appreciated. We did toy with the idea of using our existing living and dining like what you have, but I think I am leaning toward the open kitchen, living and dining at the back. You've used up every inch of space, it's great! Some more ideas for us to think about. Thanks! Just a question for those in the know-how much would it cost to move plumbing etc? And what would your ballpark $ figure/budget to do this extension be? (how long is a piece of string, I know...)