My advice would be to get rid of the blind as you won't use it once you have the curtains - perhaps you could use it elsewhere or have it as a spare. You would probably find that without the blind you will use the access more often. I would do full height and full width drapes - an inverted pleat is attractive with heavier fabrics but if you have the light fabric on the top keep it simple. How about putting your sheer lighter drape on the side closest to the bedroom and have the blackout lining behind. This gives softer look in your room. You would probably find that without the blind you will use the access more often. If there is a lot of sun take care with the pure linen cotton and natural fibres as they will rot with light and sun. There are many synthetic linen look alternatives that are less expensive, last longer and have the same look. I feel your room could do with some texture - you could possibly have a subtle self coloured stripe in the drape - or go plain and have the interest in your bedding. If you want to go soft grey drapes I would go for a darker charcocal or midnight blue/ teal colour on your walls which would look awesome with a soft grey linen look curtain and natural bedding. You could introduce soft mustard, peachy pinks and soft apple green linens in your bed cushions.

Keep it light otherwise it makes the low ceilings feel even lower. I will share our story in the hope it may help you! Picture 1. We moved from a house with high ceilings to one with low bedroom ceilings and it felt claustrophobic for a while (2 years we put up with it). Our bedroom, when we moved in, had burgundy walls, dark wooden doors into the ensuite and wardrobe, b&w zigzag curtains and pink carpet (yes someone thought pink carpets and burgundy walls would be a good idea!). The one redeeming feature was large glass sliding doors that led out onto a covered deck which provided a view and let in some light (which pretty much got swallowed by all the dark features). We faced our bed towards the doors when we moved in to have a view - as who wants to look into the bathroom like the previous owners did in the picture! Transforming the space: We pulled up the carpet and laid medium coloured wood floors (dark floors were too much for this space and needed to work through entire house), we painted the whole room including the ensuite and bathroom slatted doors white - all of which transformed the space in a way that really surprised me. A tallish wooden bed head and antique dresser, along with tall (rather than wide) artwork help add height to the room as do the doors now that they are white. To keep a feeling of warmth in the room (sorry minimalists out there) I used linen bedding in greys and used blue accessories in rugs and cushions which compliment the artwork which we picked up from a painter on the streets of Paris (framed on our return). We used a muted rug on the floor to bring elements together and for warmth for our feet as we live in a very cool climate during winter months. I simply wanted colour that wouldn't overpower the space. Since pics were taken: We have since started revamping the outside deck and removed some of the lattice which has brought a beautiful flood of natural light flooding in and a view of the garden. Our next step: will be to add some white linen or silk curtains at the highest height possible to maintain an illusion of height. We will extend the curtains to land either side of the doors when open, as while we now need to have them for some added privacy, we still want the light and the view most of the time including when the deck is lit up at night. We will keep the curtains light as colour would encroach on the room size which isn't very big. Our dream addition is to replace the sliding doors with white French doors. Hope this is helpful.

Just to confirm I have taken the great ideas presented here as advice only and have no intention to do some dodgy diy reno's. With the exception of a couple of quirky exposed timbers as you can see in my pictures there are no other exposed beams. As you can also see from the pictures there is a large roof space on the right (east) side of the house but the ceilings themselves are flat with a slight dip on the north wall. Based on my own personal experiences I would have to agree with Two's Company that there is a tendency towards rendered brick in WA (although there are still many exposed brick houses in my suburb) while double enclosed double garages are also highly desirable. I would also agree that toilets within the main bathroom and non traditional laundries may be considered unusual by many (but not all). Ensuites with toilets however are still very common. Also due to the nature of our work we would prefer the laundry separated from food/kitchen area. For a 4x2 house it is only around 155m2 excluding carport/alfresco which makes the rooms feel quite cramped, hence the desire to open up the family room. However, as Two's Company suggests we will need to first get a builder/eng in to check load bearing walls etc as this will undoubtedly affect what we can achieve within our budget. Having said that I still excited by many of your ideas and with luck hopefully can work some of them into the budget. Cheers all :)

I'm sorry for what you're going through. A few thoughts. "I discovered it wasn’t in their DA. I contacted council over it And they told the owners to remove it. The owners then applied for a building certificate to ratify it. By that stage I was seeing signs of dampness coming through as the raised bed goes approx 41cm above my floor boards. Despite my objections on this the council passed it." Have you asked them why they went back on their original action and insisted on a credible explanation of their change in view of the clear damage your property has suffered as a result of the illegal work? "So armed with a civil engineers report as well as two reports froom damp proofing companies stating the probable cause of the damp wall is the resided be I presented this to council. Council came back and said they were satisfied that the owners had damp proofed my wall." Where is their proof of damp-proofness if you have proof of damp? Obviously if there is damp it's not really damp-proof. I think you need to be a squeaky wheel about their illogical evasion. "He also attached their side passage fence onto our house and attached their extension onto our house which I have been told is illegal. I was also told by their architect that they had to leave a gap between my house wall and their building." Have you looked up the relevant regulations yourself or are you relying on verbal advice and hearsay. There have been times people were lazy about responding to problems I raised and sometimes I found it was effective to be able to quote the applicable official document. If you get the wrong sort of people and you sound like you have only a vague secondhand understanding of the matter they find it easy to contradict that to make their workday easier but if you can quote exact clauses that gives them less room for evasion. "But they sacked him before they completed the work." If it is illegal it is illegal, that is not dependent on the person advising it is illegal being in their employ. "The other think I pointed out to Council is how could they know if my wall has been properly damp proofed when it has already been built." Good question. I know sometimes they accept written documentation stating it was done, which is no more waterproof than the paper it's written on. "Also I pointed out to council that it was bad practice to allow raised beds against someone house wall even if the damp proofing was good as all damp proofing only has a life. The havent address any of my concerns nor have they come out and looked at what is going on with my walls." That's absolutely right. Are you putting it in writing, are you creating a paper trail that puts responsibility on them for inaction regarding damage to your property? "I have spoken to many government depts including the ombudsman, building NSW, and Dept fair trade. They are all shocked that council have allowed this to happen but none can help. But I need to go back to the ombudsman." I'm just shaking my head in frustration at that. Have you tried asking them who can help, or whether they are acknowledging the system is completely useless? Have you tried your local member of parliament?