I always understood decorations should come down on Epiphany (6 Jan). I still have a couple of things to put away today. I love the decorations and the decorating but also really like that clean tidy feeling in January when you pack it all away. We took our LED icicle lights camping (we have a battery pack thing) when our teenage twin girls wanted a camping birthday sleep over with their friends, made for a very pretty birthday camp site and did not attract insects which was a definite bonus

Hi I just thought I would leave a comment about the visibility of joins in reconstituted stone such as Caesarstone tops on islands longer than 3 metres. From a patern point of view; by selecting a style that has a fine grain certainly helps with reducing the visibility of a join. As for the join itself, the technology and tooling used to make such joints has come a long way in the last 10 years; therefore if you use a Kitchen Manufacturer who uses up-to-date stone fabrication methods, then such joins can be next to near invisible. Below is a kitchen we made with an Island that is over 4.3 metres long and has a join through the centre; where the join actually has to be pointed out to be seen. We have seen Kitchen Manufactures use the two height method but you really don't have to do this to achieve a long island. If you would like a long island, then you should not be put off by having to have a join; careful selection of your material, manufacturer and planning can achieve great results. Hope this helps anyone reading this article and the comments above.

subject to accurate door and window location and the age range of those using the space my suggestions include a narrow divan bed with storage drawers (extra bedding, seasonal clothes etc) and for a reading corner and extra bed, dining table, shallow low bookshelves (screwed to the wall) for toys books and games, a single small lounge chair (one or a stack of chairs that can do double duty on the deck or extra dining chairs) a corner wall with hat and coat racks, a gallery wall to create a view from the living area and empty floor space for kids' games or to erect a folding table for seasonal crowds and consider a chalk board on the inside wall for spontaneous artwork, keeping score, shopping lists and leaving instruction..i was planning to suggest indoor plants but only if the house is not left vacant for extended periods of time

Can you post a floor plan and a couple more pics? Do you need to the space to have functionality eg bookcase, study or just look appealing? I’d lean towards a long credenza, you may need to put two together and what house doesn’t need storage. I’d hang artwork above.