I have been doing it for about 8 years now and wouldn't shop any other way! We are a family of 9 which means 2 to 3 trolleys at the supermarket and many heavy loads from the car.I had a very difficult pregnancy 8 years ago and decided to give it a go and have never looked back.I have tried both woolworths and coles and personally like Coles better,(i found with woolworths lots of items missing and hard to get through on the phone).Coles is fantastic! I shop at home where I can check to see what we need and I can see my trolley total as I go and am able to check it at the end and delete anything if I spend too much,not so much impulse buying,I don't have to take the kids,I can choose a 2 hour delivery window and they email me an approximate time as well! They have never been late and if they are running early they will call me to make sure thats ok.The delivery guys are lovely and we have the same 3 or 4 regulars,who even make time to stop and pat the dogs.We have a steep driveway with steps and they carry the shopping up and into the kitchen.I also get an email about any out of stock items and substitutions (which they only do if you request).As a bonus I get Flybys points which we use to get free movie tickets for the school holidays! I would recommend it to anyone!

With a long room like yours, I would recommend thinking about how you will use the different 'zones' of the room - so for example you may want something soft above the couch, enough to read by but also enough to relax under with a glass of wine in the evenings whereas over the table you may need something brighter for the kids to do their homework (or whatever your lifestyle lends itself to). Where possible I always recommend LED lighting - they are capable of producing both warm and cool light colours and can even be used in accent lighting. They are also very popular for their energy efficiency and they give off almost no heat which is an added safety feature.

Thanks all. I love Cool, Calm, Collected - it's only a suburb away from where I live... their prices are normally $$$, but they have beautiful stuff. I actually already have that West Elm light fitting in my stair case! (How embarrassing) - I love it (and they actually have it in brass in the USA but not here). Whoever suggested light in the box, thanks, I don't think I've seen that site before. I quite like this one from there: http://www.lightinthebox.com/american-creative-personality-living-room-dining-room-villa-art-pendant_p4587353.html?pos=ultimately_buy_2&prm=1.3.5.0 The search will continue! And I will still curse some of those US website for their beauties :P

It might be worth while to consider the rest of the space also. Your breakfast bar/kitchen is located quiet closely to your dining table so depending on your kitchen space (apologies, I can't see too much of your kitchen from the photo) you might want to think about the overall style you want to achieve for you entire open plan space, and select pendants that would work for both your kitchen and dining. This is a project I worked on recently that shows how two different types of pendants can work harmoniously in the one space that is most similar to your kitchen and dining set up. Keep us posted on what you decide!