Hi Linda, Sorry to hear you are at your witts end. So dissapointing when you have such a negative experience of what should be a wounderful and positive experience building or renovating. Don't let it get you down too much, it shouldn't be too hard to get the rail changed if you explain to your builder that you are very dissatisfied with the rail and that you want it changed to a shape that's more appealing. Don't get yourself flustered but be firm, male builders at times think that woman are dumb and anything will do and that is sooo wrong on sooo many levels!!! My builder is hubby and althought he doesn't consider me dumb, he wouldn't want to ha-ha....but he does have that "it will be fine mentality" that I have to constantly keep in check but we work together real well and laught about pretty much everything and how he's not having anything to do with building my kitchen that he jokingly says he can do with a chainsaw just to stir me up ha-ha. Keep in touch. Cheers, Barbara

There's a lot of timber going on here with the floors and the door, I would avoid any more features in this room and add a narrow console as the previous owner did. Just think, you didn't notice the crevice when you viewed the property. A console is easy and inexpensive, it's also functional if you use it for keys etc. Sitting a large plant (or cut flowers if you can manage the upkeep) on the console will add some vibrant colour and the mirror will reflect it adding depth. A few other accessories will help to dress it up. Consider baskets under the console or something similar to hide the crevice and cover the vast mirror. Whatever you decide to do, I'd love to see an after photo!

I would lift the frontage by choosing a complimentary stack stone colour combination (on porch frontage). Don't go contrast, but try and find some that will lighten the look. It would also create a focus to the facade which I don't think is a bad thing. You need to ensure there is a fair amount of grey tones in the stack stone (or whatever stone you are using) you choose.

There is no one size fits all for family houses, but here is what I have observed. The first things you need are a decent sized family bathroom, and a decent sized laundry. Never underestimate the laundry size! Small children always want to be near you, so a playroom will just be a toy storage room. By the time they get to primary school and start having homework they need to be near you to do it. They also still enjoy being where you are. By the time they start to be more independent their bedrooms will be their sanctuary, so a larger size with plenty of storage will be more useful. Two living areas is ideal, but not essential. The main one will be where the family gathers to do whatever takes their fancy, where you will find all the toys and activities. Set up some desks for activities/homework etc. The other would be useful for a grown up sanctuary (the good room!!!) - this is the one that is not essential. So looking at your plan in my opinion, I would ditch the activity area and pay more attention to a bigger bathroom and laundry, and bigger bedrooms if that is an option.