Hi Kathy, so thrilled to hear my comments got you started thinking of the big picture, it has been a pleasure working with this. When you are starting totally from scratch like this it is easy to become too close to the issues and the brain becomes overloaded so you can't see the woods for the trees. I think this is also a classic example of why I always tell people to live in a house for a year before beginning to decorate, as hard as it is to be patient and wait, you do need to get the feel for a house and relate your lifestyle to it. I do like your idea of splitting the room into two areas, the room looks big enough to give you this option, and to me intimate spaces within a room create a more welcoming and homely feel. When you have a good idea of the furniture you would like, put what you have in the room and measure anything else before you buy it, use newspaper or cardboard boxes the size of the pieces and put them around the room to ensure you are going to get the desired result. It can be so easy to over or under estimate just how much space furniture will take up. Sorry the green lounge in the study didn't work out, but glad this has helped you see options. Just my personal opinion, one of my joeys had a lovely old grandfather clock in her lounge room and while it was a beautiful piece of furniture to look at, I just found it a little on the intrusive side - with its constant chiming it just didn't make the room feel relaxing, one was just so aware of the passing of time. Of course this can be advantageous when certain rellies visit. She ended up moving hers to her entrance foyer where it was a stand out feature and the lounge room became so much more relaxing. Love to see some photos of your landscaping.

Dr Retro, you are a designer after my own heart! My triple fronted brick veneer house was built in 1965, extended in 1970 and I try and stick to furnishings and influences from the 1950s to the end of the 1970s! I am its third owner, but have discovered its history via my elderly neighbours. I also have lots of antique vases, crystal and fine bone china, as was popular in the 1960s and 70s in my lounge room. Cannisters in the kitchen are all straight from the 1960s purchased by my mother, then handed on to me. Meanwhile my sun room is an explosion of plants , cane, colour and knotted pine feature wall. Whilst I have double glazed and slightly tinted the lounge room windows for privacy, I try and maintain the period integrity and hope to heritage list my property. So many glorious homes of this era are being knocked down for building town houses and macmansions, especially those on huge blocks, like mine. It is an easy house to live in and I am grateful for my separate kitchen, with easy access to the open plan dining room and lounge, as it keeps my dog out of food preparation areas. I love the cosiness of my kitchen in a home of otherwise vast spaces too! The separate living areas and kitchen have at times, made it easy for 3 generations of the family to happily coexist here, which in a totally open plan home would have been difficult!

Actually, your style isn't really very scandi in my opinion. It's industrial and rustic. I'd match recycled and chunky timbers with the concrete, a timber with rich reds. There is a company near me that makes plywood panels with recycled wood veneer attached. They're too far for you but might give you some ideas for a feature wall. I'd start with a few tins of paint and some colour actually. you'd be surprised what that can do! I'm fixing, well technically my second home but with our first we figured fairly quick it wasn't a forever home and didn't do anything personal with it. So this is our first "home" if not our first house. i getya! I know everyone seems to love white walls, but after years of bland rentals the first thing I wanted to do was paint colours all over the walls! Anything but white! Paint is cheap and a safe place to start testing your design flair. Go and paint a bunch of sample tins onto the walls and don't stress too much about the perfect look. start with what you like and find what suits that. A colour that makes you smile when you see it. I've paid about $10 a sample tin. like others said, don't do anything with the carpets yet, you can throw a rug over it if its too boring and it will look fine. There are so many things that I first thought I needed to completely change, then as I painted and freshened and tidied up I realised were not needed a huge reno. Our house was a bit of a wreck though, not a nice new apartment so things just literally needed cleaning and fixing. Put up some pictures, art, photos you like too. Honestly, I know everyone's being funny about getting a girlfriend and getting her to decorate, but actually I think it's great you've got your own taste and want to decorate. I think anyone you bring home would love seeing more of your personality around the place. Check out some garage sales and buyswap sell and auctions for rustic timber pieces for your home. Maybe a nice pipe and timber bookshelf in the lounge instead of an entertainment unit? https://www.northernriverstimber.com.au/

Here in NZ , carpet is made from this new material called wool . Thats not quite true -- you can get synthetics ( they are cheaper and get used in budget builds I gather ) , but I've never heard of wool carpet getting sticky , and seems to last longer . I'd say talk to the suppliers and ask about cost , longevity , problems with heat and humidity -- sometimes its better to spend more $$$ -- works out cheaper in the long term .