Hi Sam, I know where you're coming from, I too wanted to buy such a beautiful ornate table for my new home still under construction but it just wasn't going to look like it matched the modern home I wanted to put it in. I also wanted to feel like it could be used as most kitchen tables in a home are used, especially for me living on a farm, for eating or repairing something on some newspaper etc...impossible to do on such a beautiful table, you would ruin it to see it scratched !!! Not to put a damper on your tastes but your home will look so much better and have more style if you continue to try to match what you already have and that's at least a stunning kitchen that you've shown us all on this forum. If you think of the style and colour of your kitchen everytime you want to buy something or decorate, it will hep ground you to keep it similar. I understand there are people who say it's nice to have countless pieces of furniture that are all different in some way, as it can look like you acquired them along your journey in life but I think that this mixture of designs and colours doesn't gel in a modrrn house very well at all, perhaps a quaint old cottage but not a modern home with a lovely kitchen like you already have!!!

It all depends on how much money you would like to spend. As your lounge is dark and your stools and bookcase are also dark I think white chairs would be fine, but then I would change the stools as well and take some white down to the lounge area. However you can buy stretchy covers for this style of chair for around $10 and there is quite a variety, so I would look on line for those to see if you like any of them as that would be a very easy fix.

I hate painting or rendering brick . But those columns make me shudder ! So a relatively budget option would be to paint the columns , or render them , in an English Cream or even a white . NOT Gray . It is trendy , it is industrial , it doesn't suit the brown , in fact it doesn't suit the house . I'd follow through with the gutters in a white or sandstone too . The 'front' would look lighter , the columns are technically then a feature , it would have a slight bit of character . I'd get 2 or 3 big 1 metre by 1 metre black/charcoal tiles , and set into the stones , leading out from the terrace by the door . Add a couple of big , bright glazed pots , with a variety of plants . Tile the whole terrace in the same tone black/charcoal tiles , but 250 x 250 or 300 x 300 . The terrace tiling is 'optional' , or could be done later , but lighten the columns and gutters , and it will take some of the chocolate sameness away . Then , as everyone says -- landscape . Turn the carport into a bedroom ( personally , I wonder how you will insulate/do a ceiling/seal the walls to the roof/work walls around upright poles/remove bricks/add a door/add an ensuite plumbing/etc , but worth asking about ) .

Thanks Bigreader... Great taste!! Well, I will let you know siriuskey, chch gets some mean southerly rains! At the moment I'm thinking milky spearmint. Bluey/green, might look good with the roof. Sorry blackbamboo, if I was going black windows then maybe a storm colour would blend well. But I am leaning towards the colours of nz, the 3rd pic u posted has a colour similar. Aquamarine? Sea.. But not in a storm!!