yes, lots of glass..a couple of suggestions to the south side, change double glass doors to timber, matching the garage door, keeping the sidelight windows. Landscaping will definitely help, perhaps a timber screen could be used as well. I think if you stick with the original design, and enhance it with double glazing will work wonders. The sunroom can be extended out to give more space, make a side door to access the courtyard, and possibly another side door to access the patio behind the garage. I wouldn't mess with trying to turn the courtyard into living space, can gym equipment be setup in the garage? Not sure the rules about doors opening onto a spa in the courtyard either..it could be subject to restrictions.

For me, it would be colour. Maybe a feature wall for walls around dining, or living, pick colour from your favoured painting, and use same and other colours from pictures for cushions or even some occasional furniture in the brightest colour - I saw this done beautifully in a tarted up house for display - a small seat/coffee table painted and upholstered in an orange mix, which was taken from the splashback (everything else was neutral) and also in a throw for lounge.

Sorry, I can't send photos at the moment as we are having our kitchen renovated and all the lounge furniture is stacked and covered. Our house was built in 1960 but everyone thinks it is a seventies house because it looks just like them. We have been progressively renovating and the kitchen is the last thing to do. We actually bought mid century modern style furniture from the Modern Furniture shop in New Farm/ Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, and a parker dining suite from an antique shop. (My partner hates clutter.) The area in our house that is the same as the one where you have your TV actually has had a set of internal stairs cut into it going down, and we have a piano in the remaining space with our buffet up against the balustrade. We did have our dining suite in the same space as you have yours, but it is an 8 seater, so we swapped the dining and lounge furniture and put our 2 seater sofa, 2 armchairs and oval glass coffee table against the wall opposite the kitchen. We use both more now because the dining space is bigger and the lounge space is cosy and inviting. We have a large area downstairs which we have turned into a combination mancave/TV area/ entertainment, casual dining and summer living space as the concrete floor keeps it cool and comfortable. What I love about a big space like this is that you can change it around if you find it's not working for you as it is, or if you just feel like a change. Having to keep to the TV points reduces that flexibility a bit, but maybe you could consider swapping around the dining area? It's just a matter of figuring out what works best for how you like to live, and trying out different configurations might help you do that.

Read up on preparation and painting of a room, but very basically: Entire walls need to cleaned with sugar soap. You have high ceilings, so hire some ladders, make up some scaffolding, so all areas can be reached. Then preparation is the hardest part of painting. You need to fill any uneven parts of the walls, or along any spaces between walls and the wall railings and skirting boards. Use a product, called Pollyfilla. Then sand back those repairs with a light sand paper. Clean over to remove any dust. Use painters tape, a blue tape, to cover the top of the skirting boards, so wall paint does not get on them, same if you are painting picture rails a different colour. Choose the colour that will compliment your furnishings. Either one entire colour, or a different colour on the higher portion of the wall. Maybe Picture rail and skirting in a crisp white. Use a paint brush to paint all the outline of each wall, as it is easier to paint the rest of the walls with a roller. Maybe an extended roller, and standing on scaffolding. I would also remove the mantel, prepare and paint that wall, then replace mantel. This is a very basic overview.