yep, stunning. I been drawing something similar for a while and it's awesome to see your ab fab results after your OP. I got interested in some ikea solid timber benchtops, not nearly as nice as yours, and thought I'd combo them with black cabinets, white stone and white walls (just a "what if" design). so I totally love your kitchen. it's great how well the tiles look now compared to when you first posted, they really excite me! and the lightshades against the black wall. and what's that dining area I see? that smoked glass table top with timber trestles and black chairs and that black and white rug? where you get those?! I want to see more! congratulations, it's hard not to gush! big ups to Mldesign too.

Thanks siriuskey for your suggestions. I don't really know what style my taste/style of house is really. I like the simplicity of mid century furniture and have a mid century Parker sideboard. Other than that, the house is a bit of a blank canvas at the moment. (the kitchen is fairly modern though with almost white glass splash back, white cupboards, and stone bench tops that are in a colour like Caesarstone Osprey (but are essastone). I do like things from the late 1950's/1960's.....and I like Audrey Hepburn. I also like the Parisian type black n white art from that era. (but I also like naive art - big colour artworks of people or animals that look like they have almost been painted by a child). If I had the money I would buy a high ceiling mid-century home like they have in USA (a modern yet mid-century Brady Bunch style home). My house is a 1962 chamfer board on concrete posts and batterns around the bottom and currently just has satin polished mixed hardwood timber floors throughout. Most of the walls are either natural white as in the study or snowy mountain quarter strength (and in smallest bedroom - half strength russian toffee). Because I am always scared that things will date if they follow trends too much, I always seem to do fairly conservative or timeless things in house renovations and rely on the furniture and accessories to add colour and style. (I like the idea of renovations and the ripping out of old stuff to create something new, but I really don't like have to make all the creative decisions etc along the way)......so I do appreciate it when I get advice from others. I have printed your suggestions and will have a look at them. (I guess the barn door look is actually similar in concept to some of the timber veneer sliding doors seen in midcentury homes). Thanks again.

hi everyone!... we have decided to replace the cavity slider with another barn door on the outside wall sliding opposite way to the one inside the room, thought this would help tie the rooms together. we are painting the room a shade of white with white trims, white barn doors and of course the black hardware. i will add bright touches later on with shelving for books and bright armchair etc... my next decision is the flooring?!... i cant decide, am thinking timber to link with the rest of the house, but dark or light??.. and i am very keen on the parquetry style of cutting. i have these 2 samples which i really like but not sure which matches the best. i have shared some pix of existing furniture that is in the flow on living area beside the toy room. The carpet here is charcoal, although one day id love to change it to a lighter beige colour. i feel the lighter colour will reflect more light and brighten the area? but maybe the darker suits the styling better?? we have a lot of dark timber furniture, how many different types of timber are acceptable in the one area!! :) welcome any suggestions!

siriuskey, Yes, the courtyard is open to the sky (no roof over it), I assume this is what you mean by double story. Ref. below photos, I would love to get this look, especially the first and last photo, where you can see family living space from the first floor. I can't achieve this in my plan as it eats a lot of floor space upstairs. The referred plan (photos) has a very big void combining staircase, hallway and dining area. I know it is not easy with cooling and heating when you have such a big void. So, I explored a few ideas (with my limited knowledge on this topic) before achieving the current floorplan. I have also thought about, in my current plan, extending the void on the staircase to the dining area (it is more like L shape) but i wasn't sure if that makes any difference. keen to hear your thoughts.