Thank you so much. I am standing in my kitchen looking at my shelves and you are so right. Why are all my items so short?? Rookie mistake. I will some height and depth. The rug is bring updated. I'm thinking something with creams or even tan and yes bigger is way better. I think I'll swap the chairs and couch as suggested. I like the light that comes in from that window when the chairs are there but I do think the space looks better with the chairs across from the fireplace . And we are looking for bigger, more comfy (but still modern) chairs diff colour. Thank you again!!

Great to hear that you have decided not to paint the brickwork. Can I offer my opinion - I'd suggest painting the garage door and surrounding frame and the adjacent beam and column (currently white) in a dark charcoal/brown to match the ground floor brickwork try Dulux Namandji or Mali. I would redo the retaining wall with large boulders in a more freestyle layout than the current straight line and take up some of the concrete drive near the retaining wall to create a garden on the lower level, curved to still provide access to all of the undercroft unless you wish to enclose part of it with a large full height window. I'd love to see the wrought iron balustrade painted black. My home in the mid sixties had salmon coloured bricks, white window frames and fabulous turquoise gutters! The downpipes were painted to match the bricks thankfully - turquoise might have been a bit over the top! Good luck with your project, would love to see your progress. W

There are hundreds of suggestions that can be made on how to update, renovate and re-design a layout to make it functional for you and allow it to respond well to the built environment. Engaging an architect or building designer at this stage may not be something you're willing to do, as spending money for plans on a house you don't own would not be the ideal situation. The issue with this is that the design phase of a project takes a lot of time and consideration. My best advice would be to play around with the plans and create some sketches, whether online or on paper. If you are happy with the possibilities then buy the property. Any house can be transformed, but whether or not you are satisfied with the transformation is a personal choice only you can make.

Ok so depending on floor colours and overall look that she is going for I think (if she is really adamant) that the blue could work if you change the Amaro cabinets to a whiter shade - this will give it an overall crisp, oceanside feel with the warmth of the soft walnut. Otherwise I would contrast it more with a mid-tone colour splashback in grey/brown tones. Again this totally depends of her tastes... Here's a photo that you could show her with the blue splashback - granted it is a little deeper than her selection but at least she can see it on a realistic scale and of course the timber/white cabinets are flipped in this one. Hope some of that helps!