First, what do you need light for? Do you do paperwork? Is your desk in your window? You'll be getting afternoon sun. I'm recommending LED lighting to people, but Fred says it has a way to go in brightness and affordability. I recommend sky tubes to homeowners. I've had 2 in one of my houses.

Thank you all! I guess I'm just looking for something that would fit in with the blue feature wall and the furnishings really. I won't be changing my feature wall colour anytime soon but I hope to change my couch to a light grey. I prefer patterns as I find block colours too boring. But I don't want to go overboard with patterns as I don't want the room to feel "dizzy" if that makes sense!

Hi CP and thank you! Your comment and suggestion is not controversial at all, but raises interesting design points. They are not shutters, but timber louvres. They can be raised and lowered as 1/2 panels- 2 per each window. When they are “open” it’s straight out to the deck and the elements. IE no glass Windows behind- just screens to keep out the insects. As the home is in the tropics, and currently it’s steaming hot and the humidity level is sky high too- in order to keep the room fully Air Conditioned (for now) it’s necessary to keep the louvres fully closed. So- it’s “either/or” with this window style, as they are not “traditional” windows. That’s why there is the glass door to the balcony and the skylights in the ceiling- to let in natural light in the summer steamy season. The only months we don’t need A/C are winter months here, which is June- September aprox. In those months when excessive heat has gone, I can open everything and there is a beautiful view out to the tropical rainforest vegetation and trees. Then, it indeed looks as though there are no window “treatments” as I can raise all the louvres. I once (years ago) got a quote to put in more normal windows, but the cost was exorbitant and besides, I felt it was ultimately the wrong thing to do as it would take away the unique character of this pole house. Tomorrow when it’s light, I can post some photos of all the louvres raised just to give you an idea.

Hi Mimi, Your stone (probably Marble or Reconstituted stone as these can be damaged by acids) has been factory finished by diamond polishing to get the gloss level it has. A sealer will only help protect that factory finish and unfortunately it will not bring it back. The bad news is it is not possible to repair and so removal and replacement is the only real fix. This may be covered if you have Accidental House Insurance, but other than this, I am afraid there is no easy fix, sorry. Hope this helps though, Malcolm.