I have an open plan home too but mine looks a bit larger. I would open the space instead of trying to make rooms using the furniture. If there is no other wall, you could put your couch where the tv is and place the TV on a smaller table on an angle where your gas connection is. I would also lighten and brighten the furnishings with chair covers, cushions and maybe even a stretchy lighter couch cover (good too as you can wash so keep fabric on couch clean). I would add some drama and frame the windows with ceiling to floor side drapes leaving the rest for natural light. You can easily do yourself with some cheap cotton fabric and some curtain hardware (as they are not functional, you just need to hang and drape on sides). Id turn your dining table the other way and get some nice stuff happening on your fence outside to draw the eye to the out doors. You could grow creepers, ivy or hang some trailing plants in a row from the fence. There are some great pots that hook onto the top of fences for this so no drilling required. You could also combine fake trails with real until the real ones grow for instant green. Amazon have cheap fake trailing ivy etc. Or, Put some ficus or other trees in pots along the fence. Id repeat some green indoors too ie a pot here and there in corners as you have so much light. Id also get a washable rug to cosy up the tiles and make it look less stark ie one you can throw in the washing machine! I just bought a soft one from target for $25! Alternatively, buy an outdoor plastic one as they can be hosed. I use one of those too and as I have pets, tits great. They have some cool designs too. Chair covers will update your dining chairs and are cheap on sale at places like spotlight and kmart. Lastly, Id look on gumtree for some cool lamps or a hanging light for your dining area. You can be modern but always balance with some natural elements like wood so maybe a wood based lamp or a couple of wooden ornaments. :)

I have used Saatchi Art (saatchiart.com) to both browse and purchase art for our home. Original art work can be purchased and most artists have prints at a more affordable price. It's a good place to determine what styles and mediums you love as you can filter your search. For Australian art I love Blue Thumb (bluethumb.com.au). All Aussie and all original. Very few options for cost effective prints unfortunately. I'd be cautious about filling the space for an instant look. As everyone before me has said "art is personal" and as such, I think it should grow with you and your space. Start with one piece that you really love, big or small and work around that. I have found that putting unusual unexpected items on the wall makes for interesting 'art'. My husband's baby shoes (circa 1953) and now our children's first shoes are objects that always create conversation when guests come over. I have a Mexican art cross (we're not religious, the colours and the metal work drew me to it), a vintage wooden Indian spindle, African birds in a tree hand-beaten and cut from a steel drum, a clay mask my daughter made in art class, a woven Maori kit bag, some art that our kids have done at school (put into Ikea frames so they are always the right size. We change them as something else we love comes home), a hand-made ceramic tile, a growing collection of geckos found in antique stores, vintage travel posters in frames, (I'll stop listing what we have!)...all these items and more, have been collected over the last 20 years and put up around our collection of art or in clusters to create stories. I've collected the initials of our family (yes the child with the "K" is not thrilled it's so small and the child with the "G" feels he's by far the favourite! Needless to say both will be replaced in the future when a more appropriate size comes to light) from vintage stores both here and overseas. Our walls are a growing collection of art and objects and at any time I can move things around and change the composition as a new item is discovered. Best advice I can give you is to have fun with it, enjoy creating your own gallery, it's for you to love you're not required to impress anyone else.

I've seen a few sliders painted with blackboard paint - they're so fun and mobile, if there's a hall door somewhere it might be an option as they muffle sound rather than seal it out. KRAKEN WHALE FIGHT! If it's childlike dreams you want to be added to the house, maybe do a kiddy-height connecting door between the kids' rooms or a little message chute they can send back and forth, pigeon holes to send letters to each other or some crazy options like your hidden door in a more public area like the front entertaining space. There are so many ways to add whimsy that can be fixed up and removed later on if yall need. If the kids are smol: Kids only door or Door in a door There's an amazing episode of Grand Designs with a couple of superfun ideas Scooby Doo House that made me realise hidden doors and revolving shelves are better for playrooms than bedrooms.

Things are ticking along . We have a whole lot of long skinny flush-mounted LED taillights -- they won't be fitted until we take Frankie off the road to re-paint , as the existing lights come off , and these ones will need holes cut , the exterior repainted , then these lights bonded ( glued ) in . The Mercedes seats have had new certified mounts made ( being a safety item , we spent about $150 getting them certified -- keeps it legal , although there are literally thousands of vehicles out there that have had seats changed , and no certs ) and we made little 'boxes' that have walnut tops , and all the controls for the electric seats are in these ( on Merc cars , they are on the doors , but our auto sparky has made new mini wiring looms ) . We dropped the seats to the upholsterer last week , so in the next month or so they will be recovered -- a sort of bone/cream leather for the surrounds , and red leather with diamond stitching up the middles . This is almost what my cab looks like , mine has 1980's Falcon or similar bucket seats in a grey vinyl . I assume that was done so that there is only the 2 seats , and you can get through to the back , whereas in the pic with 3 seats , you can't . My interior is the same colours -- 3 different charcoal/grey tones on the dash , then a black on the doors ( why , I have no idea -- I would have thought charcoal would have been better ? ) . Once the seats are back and fitted , I am tempted to get the door cards redone -- do a padded charcoal vinyl that matches one of the dash colours , but do a 'scallop' from the rear of each door in the lighter leather , then a red maybe 150mm wide scallop in the middle . I feel that will tie in the doors , the dash and the seats better . The booth seating ( table and chairs basically ) in the rear will get done the same cream/bone and red leather , to tie it in a bit more . Which then brings up 1 problem . You may have noticed I have used a downloaded pic , and I was going to post a few 'before' pics of the cab and the rear , so you can see it in its 90's wooden and tacky lino glory , but that turns out to be a problem . All the 'before' pics I have are ones that the last owner e-mailed to me . I downloaded them all , they are still on my computer , I can look at them no problem . BUT for some reason , they aren't JPG's -- they show as 'Google Chrome Files' , and I can't work out if I can post them here -- I've tried but nothing happens . Are there any experts that know how to post these 'files' ( pictures ) ?