Hi everyone, I'd like to thank you all for your input. Have been a busy spring and summer, but now I'm back and able to focus on the living room. Couple of things have been done/removed since lately: 1. Leather lounge set: I've (luckily) sold the leather lounge set - absolutely great piece with great quality, but not my taste at all. It made a world difference to the living room and even dear hubby, who liked the set, did acknowledge that the difference of less furnitures is great. 2. The rug 3. The white cabinet 4. New curtains with pelmet I love the pelmet although it's old style and yes, the curtains are too short! Will amend this at later stage :) These changes have made a huge impact on the room. Also, I'm also open to change the dining table with chairs for another nice option in an attempt to make this more interesting/cozy/inviting. So, these are the only things that I won't be able to change (we may (note on may) also move house by the end of this year/early next year) # Blinds # Colour of trims and built-in bookcase # Camel back sofa - I'm happy to reupholster it though and change the fabric. This will cost $2000 but I think it's worth it since they are really comfortable and are of good quality. I'd like to integrate the white frame with the gold poster in the design - an idea is to place 3x posters on the biggest wall of the air conditioner. I'm aware that a brown frame may suit the gold poster better, but I'm so tired of the colour brown at this moment. --------- So, I now feel I'm able to adjust as per your suggestions and recommendations much easier now. Appreciate every response and idea (And sorry for the mess of papers on the desk and floor! We're busy professionals and sometimes I have to let my husband have his creative space despite my OCD when it comes to decluttering and keeping it tidy)

You were fortunate Donnae68, did you get it tested? I believe that you can get a sample tested for about $100 or so. Here is an excerpt on it's history: In Australia, asbestos cement materials were first manufactured in the 1920s and were commonly used in the manufacture of residential building materials from the mid-1940s until the late 1980s. During the 1980s asbestos cement materials were phased out in favour of asbestos-free products. From 31 December 2003, the total ban on manufacture, use, reuse, import, transport, storage or sale of all forms of asbestos came into force. Many houses built before 1990 therefore contain asbestos cement materials, especially in the eaves, internal and external wall cladding, ceilings (particularly in wet areas such as bathrooms and laundries) and fences.

Hi 2Find! Thanks for your cohesive little selection of images. I will replace the lights for sure (though I have a pet peeve re those lights where the bulb is visible as am quite light-sensitive, preferring diffuse light). There is no furniture in the room, we aren't living there till the reno-extension is done as it won't have a kitchen. I would like to keep a muted pastel colour scheme throughout the entire house. Kind of a nod to the 30's. Sorry, but I can't do brown tile, it's a visceral thing! Cheers for the lovely photos siriuskey (lovely star system). Very nice and I probably will go for a pretty simple 30's weatherboard cape cod type theme. The house is a raw looking 'ranch' style from the US, lucky we have so much lovely British weatherboard culture to draw from. I adore that hallway!

yes it is a bit of a quirky layout - but for that budget realistically you'll be limited to cosmetics/fit-out upgrades and minimal alterations - there's no way that budget will stretch to cover both renovation + an extension. Advise you seek professional advice in regards to options and likely costs involved one way or the other..., as off the bat, if we were approached with this general brief & budget, we'd be saying likely double or triple it to get it properly reconfigured....the tricky thing on these is where do you draw the line and whether or not it's actually worth doing anything unless you are able to achieve an overall result that makes sense. The issue is that the house zoning is all over the place and if you're going to do anything the whole thing needs to be pulled together to make more sense and function more practically with say main living, master area & secondary bedrooms/kids zones properly organised and positioned so as you correctly identify, you are not doing the "wierd" transition across certain spaces into another than doesn't make sense in terms of the overall residence. Whilst you may have a reasonable amount of existing space, by the time you get it working practically to your needs by trying to rejig within the existing perimeter, you'll be staggered as to what the costs will be. This is a classic example of what we deal with regularly, and more often than not these types of projects scopes will involve (a) increase of budget to achieve the scope and (b) a delicate and carefully though through solution that minimises work to existing and consolidates the spend as cost effectively as possible, which typically is achieved by some form of "clean" demo & extension solution......these days it is often proven false economy to rework within existing building perimeter unless it's confined to relatively cosmetic only upgrades.... Hope this helps & bests of luck Cheers PD :)