One thing about white walls is that you can easily put a naturally transparent colour (like yellow without whit in it) over the top if it starts to feel too clinical...really hate all white, large 'antiseptic' spaces...feels a bit soul-less, makes me wonder as to the state of mind of the inhabitants...= no personality, or just being trendy or...not wanting to 'show one's colours'. Don't trust 'empty-feeling spaces'. Love your riotous colour ideas! My walls are natural timber and I would not dare paint them,,it would be almost a sin! Am inspired by mahogany stained faux panelling here and there for a more luxurious look. When I'm bored or my head is too full I watch a soapie in which the house and the office are very grand places...strangely most of the walls are stained panelling and dark timbers..so bohemian style with a touch of multimillionaire residence! YOUR BED You say you cannot find what you are looking for...do you have a picture in your mind of the bed you want or don't you know? Could be a good idea to either do a sketch or several and see where the pencil leads you or maybe draw a definite pic of your dream bed. Alternatively, write it down..:"I want a bed that has......etc", This often helps to focus your thoughts...and...I've found that putting it out there either in a sketch you keep on a wall or writing it where you will come across it often seems to "call" the desired thing to you and all of a sudden...viola' there it is when you are least expecting it. Have fun!.

Yes - there are these amazing options to have an 'electric pool cover' with a slat arrangement that allows you to virtually walk on it. Do a google search...'pool covers electric'... I've no idea on how much they cost... Here's some pics. Not sure if irregular shapes make this too challenging... Our pool experience... We are needing to change a few things with our pool already - wish we had paid more attention to the pipes and filtration... (Having to potentially move them as they are too shallow and in 'awkward spot'... Extra $ and I'm so worried it may cause issues for us... Even the location of the concrete slab for the pump... Wish we had thought about overall picture... If I was buying a car for $70k, I would have done more research, but somehow we got carried away with idea that we could have a pool for summer, and yet reality is that it's ready for the 'next summer'... Budget plan (original) was around $30-40k, but I guess it's like building a house... Plus it's all a big learning experience...

Our house is similar, but we are empty nesters and down sized about 4 years ago, our needs would be a bit different to a growing family, we are currently in the throes of having two smaller rooms made into one area to further open up a previous renovation to give us a bigger open space..we also have an ensuite and a combined laundry / second laundry space. The good thing is that being a brick veneer house the reconfiguring is relatively easy with modern technology and big beams. As above try and have a big open space, we have been out of our home for a month now and still a way to go, add living away from home to your budget or stay with family. I will try and post the plan but here are a couple of journey pics ..the last photo was before trying to show how the two rooms decided the space making the living room very small and a bit dark...the aim of this project is to have space for a bigger gathering than about 4 people before overcrowded. Light is really important, nice big windows essential, the darkness of the living I thought I could live with, but it did get me down, I a, looking forward to having a much lighter space

As a parent, this story touched my heart. What a beautiful way to remember his soul and to start healing. Gardens breathe life into the home. I wish that the family finds their peace.