Wood screening also looks good ,although I feel the black is more uniform , tidy and harmonious with overall look, could also be done with black aluminium screening , as low maintenance and longer lasting . Re screening of air con units, If done in this way , consider access to air con units , also ventilation around air con units. Enough spacing between panels for air flow.

It is a location for a statue, a sculpture (example in HOUZZ on tall sculpture). Something inviting, something that does not arrest/block your step and movement but moves you on to the lounge room, however, it should arrest your eyes, give you a quick message, a note, while you are moving forward. (I am personally also inclined to place a tall mirror there to keep tabs on my walk and figure and shape while moving through life. Then you would come to this corner and look -at yourself!) That would require the bricks to go or leave them till you have the time and guts to get them removed. Until then they can act as a plinth, a platform for the artwork. (I would personally never sit in this corner. Indoor plants may attract and be home to all kinds of critters.) spmm says further up: "it would be good to have something that LIFTS the eye". That is a great point! (Houzz) image from the link above.

Have you thought about leaving the partition between the living and sunroom, to create a small reading/study area in the sunroom. It would look better to remove the partition near the dining room and open the wall between the kitchen and dining. You would have to check if a structural beam is necessary for this work which may not have been allowed for in the approved plans. The L shaped kitchen could house the fridge at the far end near the pantry (as shown on the plan) or in the corner, against the wall at the other side of the pantry door. The stove could be placed under the window. The sink could be placed in the section between the kitchen and dining and that bench could be wider than normal to allow for a breakfast bar. Benchtops are normally 60cm wide and breakfast bar 90cm wide.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating volume build in ANY way....there's actually little positive I can say about it except they are a more affordable option, and for some people that's the priority.....,whether or not it's in fact good value for money is a whole other discussion ;).......people have to work out where they sit within the quality to quantity spectrum for a particular project..................It's certainly a challenge here for you in that how can you accurately assess and distill/filter the "advice" offered by various parties?.......Seriously, unless a builder actually absorbs your design brief and comes back with a considered solution, any suggestion/comment such as " you could raise the ceiling" or "put in a window" or "use trusses" of whatever is neither here nor there, and are just floating ideas to consider in the mix...........but isolated "suggestions", whilst may be ideas to consider, don't effectively dealing with the overall solution/big picture to your challenge..................there are different areas of expertise in this game.....builders are builders, (and they seem to have a knack of getting called in and influencing too early in the process) they build stuff and certainly they have an idea about this and that from experience, and they can provide sound quotation/opinion on how much it will cost to do something... BUT really only properly/accurately once there is hard documentation in place (read: documented&specified, not basic concept/design sketches/verbal ideas) .......I have great respect for builders (it's a seriously hard rugged gig) and I know some fantastic ones, but builders are (in general) not "designers" unless they have come form a design background......and the conversations if held too early can be (unintentionally blurred, confusing and actually detrimental to the client and what they really need to be focusing on...........design advice from a builder can be offered with good intentions, however I have found it generally comes from more a singular benefit angle (usually motivated by business/profit) whereas (good/seasoned design) advice from a design professional comes from more complex, balanced and creative position and process in which various aspects are simultaneously managed/considered to achieve results for a client on multiple levels, ie, cost, function, aesthetic, experience etc.............the different and various professional skills all have their place, but need to be utilised in the right order relevant to the process......................yep I wish you all the luck.....these are always big investments, and big decisions, both emotionally and financially :)