Thank-you both for your input! I think I'm tossing up between putting the chairs in the nook or against the long wall. If chairs go in the nook, it's cosy and there's more walkway space as you said, Luke, for beanbags etc. However, what would I do with the 2m wall near the entrance? Would seating there be a bit odd? However having the screen in the nook would allow for a longer row of seating I think? So potentially more people could fit in, although those sitting near the door may have an obscure view of the screen. It seems like both options have pros & cons! We don't have anything that needs to go in, so to speak, although plenty of seating options and tables for drinks etc would be really great!

The next time I decorate by a colour of the year will be the first time. Don't hold your breath. I have nothing against this particular colour but it doesn't work with all the things I've collected over the years, and I am not about to discard carpets bought after hard bargaining with dubious merchants in Istanbul or Islamabad because they don't "go" with a paint colour that someone voted "colour of the year." In its place, I think the colour would be quite nice (better than this years choices, certainly). It's just that my place isn't the right place for it.

@Relle Belle, I too am OCD about things being straight, even and balanced. We are building our home entirely ourselves and so when we were ready for the electrician, I had already drawn up a lighting plan. I made the sole decision ultimately where every light, fan, powerpoint, light switch and pendant was to go, as it's my home and I have to be forever happy with it but more importantly, when you are personally responsible for the position of every light etc... you start to make better decisions about where they should be and why!! I decided on evenly spacing my down lights with four in each bedroom and a fan in the centre but without a light, as I'm not fond of fans with lights, they tend to take away from the beauty and elegance of downlights. My lounge kitchen dining is one open plan, so I still have the downlights evenly spaced but simply have some lights set on seperate switches, so they have more of a purpose, as I have an open passageway running the full length of this open plan area, so I didn't need those lights on when I only want the lounge lights on for example. Again I have a fan in the centre of the lounge only and in the kitchen, the down lights weren't going to sit squarely over the island, something I couldn't live with, so I chose not to place them in that way at all and have decided on a central task light over the island and I have feature pendants over the dining table. All my lights line up in this large open area and look real good that way and I'm very happy with the changes but I can't stress enough that a simple lighting diagram can be all you need to get the look and feel you want long term. In the bedrooms I'm having pendants, so you have to either already know the size of the bed for each room or physically have the bed for each room as your pendant switch needs to be just past the edge of the bed but not too far away to be over reaching when already in bed to turn the light on or off. I also don't like the largish 100mm+ downlights and have chosen the smaller neater 90mm lights, makes the ceiling look less busy and with a ducted cooling system in the future I wanted to allow space for the ducting vent without having the ceiling overcrowded. If the fans bother you now, chances are they always will, so move them now!! There is really far more to consider than simply leaving the lighting plan to an electrician who often doesn't care a hoot if the lighting is adequate or ill positioned, unless you are lucky like me and have an electrician that does care, so if you want to make any changes whilst the wiring is going in, it's a piece of cake and don't let any electrician tell you otherwise!!!

We have been building our house for over two years now. The supply chain downturn has made it a nightmare. We are camping on the mezzanine floor of our warehouse so it isn't costing us to wait, but if I had rented a property while building we would be in trouble now. I purchased most of our plumbing supplies early in the build so at least those items have not gone up in price, but many others have. We ordered and paid for a cantilever pool awning in February this year, and it was sent in three lots. The last delivery was two weeks ago. I suspect the company was having a hard time getting it out of China, so not their fault. We had quotes for fly screens/security screens that totalled over $25,000. We had to forgo the security screens in favour of fly screens for most of the house. We had a quote for a large aluminium mesh panel to place on the front left corner of the house which was over $25,000 also. The fencing company got an order wrong and we ended up with the wrong colour louvre panels on the front driveway sliding gates, plus the wrong colour for a fence. We have managed to turn it into a positive by keeping the wrong coloured louvre blades, and they will now be put up vertically on the front corner of the house, instead of the aluminium mesh. They are six metres long, but the house is two stories, so all good. We had to keep the gate panels the same, so the wrong colour will have to be exchanged for the right colour. People are still building houses here, and some of them are going up very fast, so I don't understand why ours has taken so long. We have purchased most of the goods locally, but I suppose the suppliers are having trouble getting them from overseas. I am at the point where I am losing interest in this house, which is a shame because it will be a beautiful house when finished.