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Some images would really help to understand where you are starting from. I like the sound of your yellow sofa and maybe there's a bit too much wood going on and some of it needs to be painted too.

I would suggest keeping the brick fire place with a clean up to keep the character. Agree paint the ceiling panels white however keep the beams as the are (if in good condition) to keep the character of the home. Paint the remaining walls white or light grey. The 1/2 brick white wall and timber paneling on the right side does need to come out to help you create the open plan space you are craving. The kitchen area - I'm not sure of size judging by the photo - I would suggest storage/cabinets the full length of the back wall to the windows where the dinning table is and cabinets/draws under the window also. Giving you plenty of storage for the home. I would suggest an island bench with a lower section to use as a dinning table. All your storage is in one place and allowing you to remove the storage you have across the bottom window in the lounge room. giving you more space and more light in the room. Or paint them white also. If you can remove the window coverings and replace with lighter roller blinds that disappear in the white walls or even white block out curtains. Good luck with the project from the Team at North.

I mentioned earlier to think about dropping the wall next to the stairs to hip or slightly higher height to allow for the TV, as this would further open up the top floor and perhaps show the street art, ie the framed print. I know that you don't want anything else hanging from the ceiling but because of the ceiling height you will need a reverse hanging fan to bring all the warm air down into the room that will sit up there if you don't. The heater is because you had one shown in your posted floor plan, this is one of the fires available on my 1997 CAD program, that's the colour it comes in but can be changed within the program cheers