Thank you I visited a few stores in Sydney , bo concepts, king furniture , project 82 and finally jimmy possum and decided on the Massimo and Milmo sofa with ottoman from jimmy possum, many reasons, not only because of the impeccable quality of the sofas and the fact it's Austrlaian made, but after visiting the store twice my husband would fall asleep instantly whilst sitting on them, and that to me was the clincher. Very happy with the staff and service from Jimmy Possum located at Moore Park , Sydney. So excited, 8 weeks to go...

Congratulations on your new home. I think you have been very sensible to live in it for a year before starting your decorating, it has given you time to consider the lighting and aspect of each room in all seasons as well as time to evaluate how you want to live in your home and exactly what you need. The lounge does look very big and bulky and will definitely dominate the room, so I would keep to the lighter colour. Don't worry about the kids and dirt - as Kookykaren said, leather cleans easily - sharp objects and textas are your bigger worry regardless of what colour you choose. Laying newspaper on the floor to the size of the lounge is another way of checking how it will look as it gives you a better indication of bulk than tape. I would keep your ottoman simple (one with storage is an excellent idea with the children), just a tone on tone fabric or a pattern using the colours in the rug on the floor of the photo of the lounge. I don't think you have room for too large an ottoman but I would have a square one made the same height as the lounge so when just you and DH are watching TV you can push it against the other end of the lounge and both have a chaise. You can then bring some colour with art work or some patterned cushions on the lounges.

It's a neat concept, but highly impractical for a wet, coastal climate of BC where I live. We could only have the wall open for roughly 4 months out of the year. And those open months would need a screen, big time. I'd forever be the one to be walking into the screen, which would bug the heck out of me (pun, lol), so I'll just pass on the whole idea. It's like the convertible car owners up here. We'll get a nice, sunny day in winter and you will see these people with their tops down, but wearing toques, lol. Or they will take the top down on the first sunny morning in spring and by afternoon it's pouring rain, again. Convertible in BC? Extremely seasonal. Convertible wall in BC? Ditto.

We have been building our house for over two years now. The supply chain downturn has made it a nightmare. We are camping on the mezzanine floor of our warehouse so it isn't costing us to wait, but if I had rented a property while building we would be in trouble now. I purchased most of our plumbing supplies early in the build so at least those items have not gone up in price, but many others have. We ordered and paid for a cantilever pool awning in February this year, and it was sent in three lots. The last delivery was two weeks ago. I suspect the company was having a hard time getting it out of China, so not their fault. We had quotes for fly screens/security screens that totalled over $25,000. We had to forgo the security screens in favour of fly screens for most of the house. We had a quote for a large aluminium mesh panel to place on the front left corner of the house which was over $25,000 also. The fencing company got an order wrong and we ended up with the wrong colour louvre panels on the front driveway sliding gates, plus the wrong colour for a fence. We have managed to turn it into a positive by keeping the wrong coloured louvre blades, and they will now be put up vertically on the front corner of the house, instead of the aluminium mesh. They are six metres long, but the house is two stories, so all good. We had to keep the gate panels the same, so the wrong colour will have to be exchanged for the right colour. People are still building houses here, and some of them are going up very fast, so I don't understand why ours has taken so long. We have purchased most of the goods locally, but I suppose the suppliers are having trouble getting them from overseas. I am at the point where I am losing interest in this house, which is a shame because it will be a beautiful house when finished.