I see this is a very old thread , with lots of comments . I've just skim read them , but I haven't seen anyone suggest anything like my 'top-of-my-head' idea -- I love the wood , and the white contrast , but pretty boring . Whats your favourite colour , or what ties in with the other rooms ? It might be blue or red or yellow or orange or green , as examples . So paint the skirting board and around the door a pastel shade of your choice , and add a small 30cm x 30cm abstract painting featuring that colour as the primary dominant one , above ( or possibly below , or maybe even get 2 matching/complementary ones ) the control panel . One lighting crowd suggested glass shades -- I'd actually go for someothing large but wooden , in much the same shade as your floors and steps , with LED bulbs -- you can get some stunning ones around 80-100 cm in diameter ( sort of a star ball shape ) for $300-400 . Total budget then $500 plus a painter and maybe electrician , unless you DIY .

Hi Siriuskey, They are timber looking tiles - we absolutely love them. We are considering the same for the new place but potentially herringbone/parquetry arrangement. Much more expensive vs. laminate but easier to clean and no concern in relation to water...

@siriuskey - Brand new build. No house plan yet. This will be one 'pavillion'/box that contains living room, dining room, kitchen/scullery/butlers pantry, powder room, laundry,/mudroom/ storage and possibly wine storage/bar area. It will probably run north/south with the living in the north and mudroom/laundry in the south. Laundry needs to be on the south/east side as that is where our existing drying garden is and our sleeping pavilion/pod/box will be on the east. The mudroom needs to be on the south/west as that is the side we come in from the paddocks to the back of the house. We are a large working farm. we grow our own food and kill our own meat so we have several chest freezers and an extra fridge that will go in the mudroom/laundry area. The butler's pantry or part of the kitchen needs to attach to that. There also has to be access from the west from the garage either to the mudroom door or into/near the kitchen. I know what we want/need, I just can't visualise how to arrange it all so it works. I guess that's where designers step in. At this stage we're kind of working on a 7.5m wide box of yet to be determined length.

Well, I had a structural engineer come to the house yesterday at a cost of $600. I thought I would get drawings or something for that price but this is what he said.....(oh, before his visit, I cute into some of the plaster of the dividing wall between kitchen and lounge and the brick wall goes all the way along the wall). Structural engineer said that the wall is load bearing because he think that it provids support the support rafters (or what the horizontal beams that are at the bottom of the cathedral ceiling). Those horizontal beams that go across the house (each one from back to front of house) and partly supported by the brick dviding wall. He said that if I totally removed the overhead walkway, I would still need to leave a post or some of the brick on either side of the current dividing wall , as well as a support beam between them. He said I could cut out a window into the wall, but the bigger the window the bigger the horizontal support beam would be required. He said he didnt like working with brick because it was not like timber etc, where you can calculate what load it takes. He said there can be a lot of variation in a brick wall. He said that I should contact a building designer (someone who can give an idea of design whilst also consdiering loads and being able to draw plans...he said normally, those people will ask his advice on something). I hate tryin to do renos, because you can spend a lot of money and not really get much from it, and also go in circles about knowing who is the best person to contact. I know I do need someone to help give me an idea of design, but someone who also takes into consideration comparative costs including structural elements/loads etc. When I said to him ..so I shouldnt see an architect, he said that he often sees things from architects with no technical drawings...just design only. I really would like to be able to see the view at the back from anyway in the house, but I am a little bit reluctant to move plumbing, as I imagine with a concrete floor, the costs will start to rise significantly if plumbing has to be moved. I tend to spend most of my sitting outside time, at the back of the house, looking at the lake...even though there is only 1.5metres from the back of my property to public land (and that I have to put fencing up there to keep my dogs in). It is only me and my dogs at the place, but I do want to make sure that any changes that i make are family friendly and AirBnB friendly. The exisitng laundry seems to have heaps of wasted space in it and because the current windown is so high in it, it seems to be very segregated from the outside pool and not in the best place. I dont know what to do with this place.