@dkin0577, If the dark wallpaper works for you then go for it but the picture you have provided is a much larger area!!! We're all here to help with your ideas but ultimately it has to work for you. I love your secretaire and only wish I had such a lovely piece of furniture with sentimental value. Unfortunately, my parents never had the money, only buying what would work. Don't let anyone talk you into "outing" it but I do agree with Joshua to remove the lamp and photo, let this piece of furniture shine!!! Perhaps a wall light over the secretaire would look stunning. Most important thing from my point of view, is that the area looks tiny, so don't fall into the trap of over filling it, as that alone will detract from the very piece of furniture you are trying to highlight. Could be too that you could highlight this secretaire in some other part of the home and perhaps put a hall stand with a mirror in that area instead but on the other wall ?? Good luck again. Cheers, Barbara

Console table behind lounge would be wonderful, as per Julies photos above. But even at the moment from your photos I think it looks wonderful with the pieces you already have in that space. My suggestion would be to remove the small bookcase, as it is cluttered with random things and doesn’t look good in the space. Replace with a small shoe storage bench. An artwork on the brick wall above your lovely single chair, would break up the dark brick wall. Hang the mirror above the new storage ottoman, if you are able to. If you are not renting.

thank you for all of your comments: @jen876 - an entrance into the garage would help in terms of security and also the outdoor area that I currently use as an entrance does not have much cover so in the rain it gets messy. Also the garage is a great place for extra storage for mops etc as my laundry in now a dedicated 2nd bathroom. @oklouise - haha yes we learn things every day. maybe shoppers entrance is an American term and I've been watching to many reno shows on channel 94. Also with the changes you had previously supplied, I'm not quite at the stage of doing a large renovation ie moving walls etc. I love the idea of moving kitchen to the current dining room, however I've been advised that moving plumbing to an island will be very expensive and require drilling through the flooring so therefore I will then be committed to redo all of the flooring (which I cannot finance at the moment) @Kate - yes I was leaning along the angled bench, reason being is that if my dining is close by I don't use the current breakfast bar like you would if it was a full island, and just knocking off the corner as you have drawn it would make for easier flow around the island, just the door to the garage would sit over to the dining a bit more. I think moving the cooktop/oven over to the other side would create a better cooking experience as opposed to it staying where it is with not much working space around it ( I know it's individual taste but would you agree?) @dreamer - I wouldn't want to extend the peninsula so I'm looking for ways for it not to encroach too much into the dining space, although as I'm working from home full time I have set my office desk in the current dining and have moved the dining table to sit in front of the sliding doors, which seems to work well. Also re the flooring, I would be ok with a small amount of disruption to the tile and would concrete over or add other tiles in the interim.

Also if i can avoid moving air con for now that would be great. The next phase of reno will be to take down the wall between lounges and put aircon on the front wall of the lounge as it's the only other outside wall it can go on. Here might be my plan for now. I'll put the kitchen in place and figure out if i need to add more storage to office area. Will add range hood and a few long open shelves like in the image below (and is also the look i'm going for decor wise)