I have just cleared out an area under the house - a small room at the back of the garage that connects to the laundry/come storage room on the other side - a bit hard to explain the layout, but it works perfectly now as a second office/study area that I am using to gather and sort literature for further study. It has a large filing cabinet, desk, sorting table and lots of shelving for pre-sorting piles of literature which I have accumulated so effortlessly over the years! It comes with window views out to the garden and lovely water glimpses (if I open the garage door) and is lovely and cool in summer. While it is well organised and tidy, I have deliberately left it fairly rustic (read 'man cave' like) as I don't want to feel like I need to be 'cleaning and tidying' while I am there. I have a stack of classical and choral music that I play while down there ... in between listening to the cricket in summer, of course! Some great names in here re what to call it .... perhaps my 'She Nook' or 'the Reading Room'

Hey bekkyboo7, I guess it depends on whether you have any plans down the track, to change the layout of the furniture in the room? If you are intending on attaching one shelf only to the wall, I think it would look best if you centred it on the wall. However, you could always stagger two or three shelves to the wall and create some visual interest. My personal pick would be to hang individual photo frames to the wall, all matching in colour (white or black) and forget the shelving altogether. I'm with James on that one. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/How-to-Mount-Photo-Frames-on-the-Wall-/10000000181849582/g.html http://homeridae.com/large-wall-decor-ideas-for-living-room-design/elegant-living-room-decor-with-double-paint-framed-on-the-grey-wall-matched-as-black-and-dim-grey-velvet-sofa-sets-designs-as-well-as-interior-wall-decoration-ideas-plus-living-room-home-decor-ideas/ http://natalie-warady.squarespace.com/o-at-home-magazine-darryl-carter/

Thank you for your comments, would you do anything to the plain white wall if i were to leave the stripes on the family room end - or any ideas on how to incorporate it (there is a doorway through to a play room/office).

I am looking for ideas of how to build out the wall. I can imagine a panel, featured, running behind the TV and aircon to camoflauge them a bit, not so stark The cupboards below be uniform, not like the old ones we have in the photo. Not too much shelving but maybe some lighted nooks etc.