If you stick to the era of the house you might find you struggle to sell. People don't buy houses from the 60s 70s or whatever the age of the house. They either buy for investment property or renovations. There would only a select few who buys a previous owned host and decide to keep original colors and design. They will never ever be a heritage listed home. By the way kirsty c personaly I would square set all wall and ceiling internals. Cheaper than shadowline. Alot quicker and more practical. And would steer away from any hanging lights. Remember sharp straight lines and angles on shadow line. Lights that hang from ceiling don't have anything at all with matching with shadowline. Shadowline is a recess between wall and ceiling junctions recessed downlights are the go

Many suppliers will put dry clean only on their curtains (including the custom made ones) to protect themselves from people mishandling the fabrics and if there's a block out backing on the curtain then this might not be washable. Linen will shrink if you put it into a hot washer or dryer but as Julia has indicated linen is a beautiful fabric to use if you do the right thing by it - if your wanting linen for the block out use a fabric backing rather than a linen that has a coating and make sure that the block out fabric can be separated from your linen fabric (curtain makers will hate it as it's a nightmare double handling, but if you're going to spend a lot of money on linen and for them to be made, it's not unreasonable to request this.

Suzineedsahouse, what is the era or character of the house you have moved into, because perhaps that will influence design style regardless of size? Also, if you have been knocking out walls is it likely to be more open plan?? I moved from a small 1960's era granny flat into an as-small Art Deco 1940's apartment and found I went with more classic furniture with the second place because it just suited the aesthetic of high ceilings, floorboards, wide skirting boards, fireplace, ceiling roses etc. Having said that, I live in a block of 6 apartments, and I have seen the other apartments decked out completely differently (all of similar layout), from really modern, to mid-century, also one with a real retro art vibe, and they all looked great and seemed to suit the space fine. So maybe go with your taste in the end??

I happen to love shaker style, but it kind of depends on the mood/style you're going for in the rest of the house. Your floating shelves are already a bit modern/transitional, and most of what you see from the back of the island is glass upper cabinets so I think you could easily go the modern/transitional direction with the clean doors. If you're more into traditional, and are planning on going that direction with light fixtures and furniture, etc., continue with the shaker.