This looks like the room is at least 7 metres long? I am not an expert but have you thought about groupings of couches and chairs? do you entertain a lot or is this simply for a family? I would have a group that fitted around the tv for my family and then add more groupings and tables to take in any view giving it that party room feel. However you need to think about how the room will be used. Latest advice I hear is don't make the tv the hero of the room but we all need to see it too.

If that is the case then move in with your existing furniture. Experiment with various arrangements - with such an open plan you have lots of flexibility on how the spaces are used. Don't let the names of the spaces on your floorplan dictate the function of that space in your home. Become an expert in your home to find out what works for your lifestyle and what doesn't. See how your home works with the change of seasons. Is there a spot that catches the sun in winter? Is one area really hot in summer? Live in your house for at least 12 months before buying any furniture and let your experience inform your purchasing decisions. Don't rush as mistakes are costly and second-hand furniture doesn't have much value. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Lila, is this a project home where you can visit a display house which will be staged and furnished so you can look at and measure the furniture used in it to get an idea of what fits best in the house and would work for you. You can think of sofas in terms of 2, 3 or 4 seaters but that really gives no indication of actual size nor the actual bulk of the piece according to the style. The construction of the sofa and its bulk is what will make or break your room. I think the first issue you need to resolve is just how you plan on actually using these rooms - 3 sitting areas is a lot of space and the furniture has to fit your needs and lifestyle. Do you have children, what are their ages, what interests do they have, how do you plan on accommodating them, what sort of lifestyle are you realistically envisaging living in the house. Unfortunately TVs seem to dictate furniture layouts, particularly sofas, so where do you plan having them. Do you want a formal lounge room, how and when would you use it, how many people would you realistically be accommodatinge at any one time, to decide just what furnishings you need in it. I'm thinking this is a project home because of the games room, builders have these wonderful ideas to design spaces but how do you interpret this and how do you plan using it. Maybe this or the lounge room would be better used as a library/study for children to do their homework or for a study/retreat for adults. A family with younger children would really benefit from a play/games room, but furnished for that purpose with good storage and minimal lounge type seating. Depending on the age of your children (if any) you will find your needs change over the years too, sometimes furnishings can be multi purpose other times it comes down to starting again so best not to over indulge on price. How many people would you need to regularly sit at the dining room table, let that be the guide to the size you need. I assume you are planning another dining setting in the alfresco area - that is not that big an area to actually sit people for meal and comfortably move around. Traffic flow is something very important in every room of the house, but it is something you won't really know until you are actually living in it. So before you think furniture and how you want the room to look, think lifestyle and what you actually need. Certainly shopping around now for sizes and ideas is a good idea but take a notebook and tape measure with you, write down all the details and take photos if that is permissable, collect catelogues but do not buy anything until after you have moved into the house and live in the house to really get the feel for it, understand the aspect of your rooms too - some rooms can have hotspots and others can be cold so your plans on how you actually use a room could change as well. I think the hardest thing to do and the area where people make the biggest mistake is falling in love with a room, layout and furniture without actually relating it to their home, their needs and how they live their life. Two final words - hasten slowly.

Kate: - I like the idea of a door at both ends of the new central bedroom doorway - maybe some kind of thin sliding door or a foldable shutter door might be best? - house can’t be knocked down/rebuilt due to location in a heritage conservation area OkLouise: - thanks again for doing this - I’ve loved all of your updates, they are so well thought out and hope to incorporate them all into the build - will send you a token of appreciation when the build is finished! - we have already been thinking about whether to rotate the kitchen island 90 degrees as you have drawn - i think it might look weird? but i’m not sure - theres a lot for us to process with your new updates so we'll need to spend some time thinking about them! - i’m resistant to reducing the size of study 2 as that’s the most important room for me as i will spend a lot of time there and it is doubling as a work productivity office/man cave so really want that room to be fantastic! - i thought the laundry chute was above the laundry but will need to ask the architect Siriuskey - I also think there may be too many bathrooms in the house - due to the good location of the property i think it is hard (within reason) to overcapitalise on the property so believe it will grow well in value in the long run so would rather overdo it than underdo it - FWIW the other houses in the street/adjacent streets are kind of similar to our proposed plan so its not out of keeping with the area - am still wondering about combining the downstairs powder room/adjacent en suite into one big bathroom for a bath - variable number of family members staying but 4 to 11 over 3 generations at various times of the year - the plan for the mudroom is for it to be the entrance into the house that we use most so it can also act as a cloak room too so that’s why its not near the laundry - i don’t want a lift in the house as it seems unnecessary for our needs and fi we ever ended up in a situation where we needed a lift we would just sell and downsize Dreamer: - i think we (parents) might end up living downstairs when the kids get older/noisier - they are in primary school currently Pleased to Bijou design - point taken about number of bathrooms - i don’t really have a good answer Paul Di Stafano & Dr Retro - i can sense and empathise with your professional frustrations :) - thanks for the good luck wishes, I agree we’ll need it - fortunately I’m a lifelong/relentless optimist and things always seem to work out ok in the end (and if they don’t, I’ll take it as a positive learning experience) - thanks for the insights into dodgy busy practice business models mummagabz - thanks for comment about small robes - will look into making them larger