I love mirrors - they bounce light around and depending upon what they're reflecting they're great to use for feng shui - if you're really worried about using mirrors - ensure that they reflect back something terrific (say such as green plants outside). You need to review how you use plants - the ones that youve got are low - you need something that is eye height and on your furniture - to create different levels of greenery - so think about taller indoor palms, and when you get your TV wall mounted, you could use the TV unit for storage and put a plant(s) on top of it to give you different levels. If you can replace the map for other keepsakes/accessories from Mongolia I think you'd be better off. Soft fluffy "hairy/furry" cushions will soften your lounge and refer back to traditional heritage. You could replace the map with a Mongolian style rug or traditional artwork. Utilize a strong horse statue or vase, hanging a piece of traditional costume (similar to the way Kimonos are hung) or a piece of reproduction artwork - just pick things that you love on your coffee table and other walls. You could also do shadow box frames traditional jewellery/horse stirrups/bridles for something eye catching (you can source these online or if you've got family still in Mongolia it's well worth asking them to check out markets/antique shops). The map doesn't really do your home or your background justice - Mongolia has such a rich history and culture to pick from - have some fun with it. I think as soon as you remove the vertical blinds and replace them with curtains you'll instantly feel better - (hang them as close to the ceiling as possible - it'll make your room feel taller and the curtains themselves will bring a feeling of soft comfort) and with changing the coffee table you'll be on the right track.

You have a lot of great features included that aren't replicated in modern houses due to costs. The semi circular stairs, thats wow right there! ^^petapea is spot on by the way! I'm currently working on plans for a house that was rendered in 2006. It has the wow factor; WOW that's bland as bat sh!t.... We're adding things like a bay window, new porch in painted timber and some masonry back to make it look good again. Then the new landscaping will really lift it! You could render garage facade and paint it, pressure clean the rest and do those maintenance jobs like cracked flooring, leaking gutters etc. The stairs are too narrow to be any use so widen them up to 1000-1200 wide. I'd spend more on landscaping (which includes fences/letter box/etc).

Your new home looks fabulous! Congratulations from the Team at North! I am a visual person so I hope you don't mind me adding some photos to help explain colours. Your home has more yellow brick then red like these homes. However the dark grey, light grey and white framing works well with the brick creating a modern clean look. Darker grey for roof, light grey timber/cladding on top level and light grey down stairs around the smaller square windows. You could add a window frame, to frame the windows in light grey/white around the yellow windows or just leave them as they are. Painting aluminum is not recommend unless you get the professionals in. If you wanted to use panels instead of timber have a look at James Hardie cladding - 13 11 03 is the contact number - They have a fabulous products that give you cladding with a paint finish that will outlast any timber you put on your home and is low maintenance. Need to check with the local council as to what roof colours are aloud some don't allow to dark because of cooling costs. Its suggested you pick 3 colours to keep it unified. Its a personal preference what colours you like? Below the white and blue grey looks amazing! Please let us know what you choose. A project is always exciting.

hi Belinda, thats what I said to my hubby too, haha!!! Have a look at Peter Fudge gardens, just beautiful, he said he uses them in his designs, it is a medium tree (can grow to 10 mts in maturity) responds to a light prune to keep it to the size required, I prune our pears every 3-4 years and they look fab, he uses it in residential gardens , pleaches and underplants to give that beautiful elegance, look up his website for inspiration and he has great advice and his gardens are divine, can't wait to see what you do.