It would be great to see some of these images on your profile.

What a great big room. The ideas are endless. Not sure if you live in Melb but I would get professional help. Honestly it doesn't cost a lot and you have peace of mind. For the painting go to any paint store, even Bunnings. They have the ph nos for a paint colour consultant. (I went with Dulux) but most Paint companies now have colour consultants to come out for a fee. The consultant comes out for a fee approx.($150) but that was for a few rooms. Then if you buy their paint, the price of the consultation is deducted off the paint you purchase. So really the consultation is free, if you choose their paint. Freedom decorator consultant works the same way. Can't remember how much (no more than $200) and she gave me great ideas. If you buy anything from them, again it's deducted off your purchase. There is no commitment with either paint company of Freedom to purchase from them. The advantage is, you can have the amount spent deducted from purchase. Honestly it cost saving and you get professional advise. Win Win situation. We've built 3 times and painted the house myself, and I have been so glad I did the above, with both paint and furnishings.. Plus I do up my own furniture, (most bought at garage sales) so I only purchased what I really wanted from Freedom, the rest 99%, I got from op shops and did up myself. But the ideas are helpful. Honestly, you need to know what decore you want in your room? So they will work around that. If your unsure, they will look at the rest of the house and work with your ideas. I like French provin. So I worked around that, Just to give you ideas you don't have to spend a fortune. My bedroom is also huge. Haven't took photos all-round. I redid all the furniture in both rooms. The above cabinet was brown stain which I painted white. GOODLUCK

Natalie, I didn't even think of that with the microwave! I knew it didn't look right - there was an extra small piece of cabinet that I assumed was meant to go there to finish it off but I couldn't work out how it fitted lol. Unfortunately the doorway at the end of the fridge isn't even remotely a straight wall.so the end panel we had either looked silly or had to sit in far enough that the fridge wouldn't fit. So my dad & I built that box above the fridge to measure & I had to plaster the doorway wall a bit thicker & taper it to the box. Would a pelmet or something similar work for the window? The other side of the window is the end of our entertainment area & we are planning on putting a shelf under it as a pass through/bar so would rather not have a full blind. I also put the frosting up as a temporary measure whilst renovating, but have actually grown fond of it. I did consider lining the window with trim like a frame? Examples below:

I wonder if you should look into this a lot further. I find it hard to believe that you can't sell a house in the kind of location you describe, walk away, and find a nice place maybe in one of the more peripheral areas, that will meet your requirements, give you cash in hand, and not touch your $100,000 nest egg. No, you certainly wouldn't end up in the inner city but you could end up in a situation that provides the facilities you need and gives you a financial cushion. That said, my real concern would be how to make this house workable for boarders while preserving your privacy. I think you need to provide a floor plan of what you have for anyone to make anything approaching informed advice.