This is the placement if the door and window, and the bed size is double, and I need to fit something to store my clothes, a study table and somewhere to put a tv and a gaming console, and also a bedside table

Oh dear! We have the same type of fireplace, except mine is double brick. I think you should definitely paint the cavities the same colour as the walls, the existing colour seems to chop it up and makes the area look smaller. I love the idea about the stone look wall paper around the fire. I would check with manufacturers instructions beforehand, fires put out a lot of heat and ash and my guess is that it would ruin the wall paper (you didn't mention if your fire was real or gas log). I think Mitre 10 and Bunning's sell a product that's stone cladding ( its DIY) you glue it onto the wall, it looks amazing. A timber mantle above the fire would also look great. My fireplace has shelving either side in the cavities, it seems to balance it out otherwise you have 2 great big empty areas. You could align the shelving or stagger them depending on what look your after. If you go with the shelving idea I would put a couple cushions each end of the cavities near the ledge to encourage people to sit. Fires are meant to be warm and inviting. Lastly I would put a rug in front of the fire to protect your carpet. Good luck! Make sure you post some pics.

I think the bench/breakfast bar along the deck - with bi-fold windows is a fabulous idea. The storage space under the stairs makes more sense to me than a faux fire. An extendable table is definitely the way to go, especially if it is just the two of you most of the time. As for the kitchen sink - I can only suggest that you move your wall cabinet further right - extending the bench and then the sink can be placed further to the right. Downlights above kitchen bench - we have downlights about a metre apart and they provide excellent coverage. With regards to the cupboards being different in living/kitchen areas. I personally think that if you are going all white, they could be identical - creating continuity.

Hi asquithoatley, thanks for your suggestions regarding building up photos in my idea book (didn't know they existed!) I do have room to place it in front of the fireplace however as I wanted to mount a TV on it, thought it might be best to put some room between the couch and TV (I had read that putting a TV on a wall can cause neck aches by looking up, so I thought having it back would mean less likely to be looking up at the TV). I don't have any dimensions sorry, as I have only viewed the house once. We are taking a builder through next week so I can get dimensions then (we haven't put an offer in). Another query I had is, do you think it would be a good idea to shut off the door way to the kitchen from the hallway? I thought it would give me a full wall of cupboards (it is a large kitchen the way it currently is). I then had planned to see if I could remove the wall between the kitchen and the living room (try to give some open plan to the house). I also wanted to demolish the wall between the laundry and living room, turning the laundry into a dining room. The laundry would then get put into a cupboard on one of the walls (I will match it to the kitchen cupboards). I have a very large dining table (family heirloom) that seats 8. The current owners have split the living room into a dining and lounge, using a 4 seater table (not much room for much else). Any suggestions are appreciated!