Jakkiea777, the lounge is a lovely shape and fits the room well, it also looks very comfy (so hopefully will be as it wears in). I think the biggest challenge is finding colours to blend in with the stone and also with your floor colour, although it looks as though it blends with your wall colour. I agree remove the ottoman for now as there is already enough of that colour in the room. Perhaps add a lovely green plant in a big pot in its place. Have you considered neutral colours such as grey or even white cushions, rug, to blend it all in? Maybe abit of green as well? Love to see pics as you work out what works, I can see the room coming together beautifully.

You could get an AC tech to come out and take a look, but you'll have to pay them. Otherwise, you'll need to get up into the ceiling and have a look. Check that none of the ducts have come loose from any sockets, that there are no rips or missing insulation. Ideally the ductwork should look shiny and not deteriorated. 8 years shouldn't be long enough for it to wear out too much. Have a look at where all the outlets are. Is there one in each room? You want to make sure the system has been designed properly in the first place. Try and find the model number written on the outdoor unit, and look up the kilowatt rating online. As a rough guide, the system should be sized to at least 100 Watts per square metre floor area in the house. So a 200sqm house would need 20kW (rule-of-thumb estimate, there are many other factors). Look for the return air grille (usually egg-crate style). It will probably be located in a hallway or similar area. These tend to collect dust on the ceiling side where they draw air back up into the system. If the house is for sale it might have been cleaned. You should be able to open it up and have a look at the filter. This will give you some idea of how frequently the AC has been serviced (if at all). Lastly you could turn the system on and see how noisy it is. Very noisy fans may indicate that bearings are wearing out and might need to be replaced. Fortunately Daikin are a mainstream brand, there's lots of companies that can service them and should be able to get parts if need be. An 8-year-old system should be readily serviceable, but I guess you're hoping to avoid a breakdown as soon as you buy the house. Heating & cooling is usually the biggest energy expense in a house (hot water is second place) so if you can get the last year's worth of power bills you can have a look if the running cost is reasonable. Overly-high running costs would indicate either a design problem with the system (not set up correctly) or with the house (inadequate insulation or shading) or a mechanical fault in the AC. No point having an AC system that you can't afford to run. Hope that helps!

Hi T Whit, Firstly, congratulations. How lovely to have 10 acres and a view! Also really glad that you are taking the sensible approach and aren't rushing into anything. Perhaps the best place to start is finding an architect or building designer with whom to work through your ideas and come up with a concept. Whether you engage an architect or building designer really depends on three things: your budget, the size of your project and, probably the most important thing, finding a professional person with whom you feel comfortable working. The whole process will always run more smoothly when a good working relationship is established. Once you have a plan you are happy with, it may also make sense to engage an interior designer to look it over prior to submitting to council or beginning construction, to see whether the flow of the internal design is optimal and where any adjustments might be made. Once you have council approval, it's costly and time-consuming to make significant changes as you'll then need to re-submit the plans. An interior designer can also help with exterior colours and finishes, selection of all the internal finishes, lighting, fixtures & fittings and would be able to provide detailed design of kitchens, bathrooms, built-in joinery etc. which trades will need. There are so many details to consider in any building project, so best to have as much of it as possible worked out before the project gets underway. Having said that, it's also an "organic" process and your ideas and tastes may well change during the design process, so it's good to have people you can trust on board to help with important decision-making and to workshop ideas. Best of luck with your project!

(overlapping posts but doesn't change suggestions especially need for locations of doors and windows) to make space for a 55" TV i would swap rooms and make a media room with a wall of cabinets to include the TV, music, books etc and have a roomier dining room with extra small lounge chairs that can be rearranged when you need seating for more than 4 to watch TV..the lounge could be a sofa bed with a storage coffee table for bedding but best size and placement of all furniture depends on measurements and you will use an accurate plan of the whole apartment (including exact size and location of all doors and windows for choosing furniture, floor and window coverings, appliances, built ins, kitchen cabinets etc etc so if you can make a rough plan showing the distance from the windows and doors to all corners i can make a more accurate plan for you