Thank you all. Oskuee - actually, you may think that I am the selfish one. Out of the whole house my hubby only got the games and theatre to do what he wanted, the rest of the place was mine :-) It would be a glorious concert in the theatre! hah! There is no room left though as where the murphy bed is, is now the built in entertainment cupboards, and the murphy bed has been switched to the front wall. In the games room, we have a pool table, Neo Geo gaming machine, a bar fridge and some other manly type things. It COULD go in here, yes, and we might go this way, but I would prefer elsewhere (not the garage) SueM it is too long (145cm) to fit between the dining and kitchen/stairs. Vy, there is no retreat upstairs, and it is too big for the landing. Yeah, at this stage, it is likely to go in the games (to the left on the wall behind study) or under the aircon in the lounge. I had this really awesome idea to frame some of my grandmothers piano music, songs that were special to her and I, and have them as artwork on the wall behind the piano. This would have been so awesome near the front door. Sigh, hopefully it will still look nice wherever the piano ends up going. Thank you all again. Sandra

Hi. Good question from Gallifrey re ceiling height. I'm also wondering if you plan to install new fixture in same spot as the current ceiling oyster? And if you have your piano lid open most of the time? So height of light you are looking for is what? I like the idea of a Venetian chandelier, similar to the red one posted above. What about in black?

A rug under the table will cause problems when moving the chairs. To be safe and no nuisance, it has to be a huge rug. (A large round(!) floor cover....?) I like the street lamp. But I guess it is a STREET - lamp and makes the room rather sterile. It is kind of tallish in the corner and enhances to large distance to the ceiling. bring something else down from the ceiling. I guess you don't want a lamp because you have downlights. Do some search for some nice art, which does not move (shadows) in the light. Or use a beige old fashioned chandelier. Go bit by bit. And think about the carpet before you get it. Work on flow and lightness, delight, round parts, oval to balance the room. If I painted something, I would paint the stark white frames a little softer/toned. The white is a hard contrast. So is the black. (And I would probably paint a half wall white.) And the black ornament (light?) that comes down from the ceiling must come further down, should be larger. And then I would play with the room for dinner situations..... you can bring all the colour in you like. I wonder what the room looks like during the day. Try taking the (beautiful) mirror out and hang a canvas. The plant on the table looks forlorn. The Arabic lamp in the left corner looks lonely too. this would be a nice corner for a piece of furniture. An extra chair finds room in spots like this often. Do you have enough space when serving food? (Can you get light switches in a colour like the walls?) I would probably take 2 chairs out unless they are constantly needed and take the placemats off. Put a larger item.... maybe a plate of fruit in the middle. The repetition of chairs and placemats enhances the very formal atmosphere. I have just seen a cream coloured chandelier. Glass is too stark and black not suited to brighten the situation up. I love the room for its sheer size and uncluttered atmosphere!

I'm sorry to say that I have only negative input also. This floor plan does not look as though the house would flow at all. Have studied Interior Design & have been involved in a lot of house plans, but sorry to say I don't think you will be happy in the long run. You have a Laundry right at your front door. This is where all your visitors will be entering. You have no external door from your laundry , so will you be carrying clothes outside through the house or will be there be a door in the garage to the outside? Bedrooms 3 & 4 need to go through the rumpus room to get to the toilet and bathroom. You dont want bathrooms & toilets to be seen from your front door, its not a good look. Your bedroom quarters should all be grouped together with access to bathroom & toilet, so you dont need to go through other rooms to get to them. Your area of your kitchen and breakfast bar seems to be too narrow if you are intending to have bar stools across there with doors opening out to a deck. If your most beautiful views are along the south & west I would consider flipping the design. Try to get your designer to put all 4 bedrooms, bathroom & toilet on the East side and make that the bedroom wing. Make the rumpus room from the internal garage wall towards the west. Move your balcony from that same point and wrap it around your rumpus room with big bifold doors that open to one side. This will give you the views and entertaining space in & out. Move the laundry door from the front entry to where the cupboard is at the moment. Leave the garage/Laundry door where it is and seen if you could get cupboards for storage along that garage/laundry wall. In your kitchen area I would extend the doors on that balcony out which will give you more room for stools along the breakfast bench. Move your toilet to the back wall of your living room near the stairs. I know that wall is long but your designer should be able to fit in a toilet and basin comfortably and what ever area remains you could either make it into a wet bar for entertaining or inbuilt shelving and cupboards below? or maybe even the piano, which will not be in a walk way now but in nook overlooking the living area; where it can be used on special occasions. I would also do the same with the balcony as below and wrap it around the living room with big bifolds opening to one side which will give you that indoor/outdoor living space especially if you have the wonderful views you say towards the south/west. Get rid of you french doors leading into the living room and open up all the space so it feel airy and roomy. With the toilet gone from where it is, the piano moved and the balcony moved out a little, your walk way is opened up, there will be a better flow into your dining and library areas without walls and obstacles. You will get a much better view out from your kitchen area, (which lets face it is where you will spend a lot of time) as you will be able to see the views to the south and west whilst standing at the sink. Where as it stands now you have a toilet and french doors blocking the view from your kitchen.