Hi dinkidi4, I'm dealing with the same thing right now. I did paint some of the walls white, which have been good for the time I've been here before doing the 'real' job, however, I don't want this really textured look from the bricks as there are too many walls. I'm about to try Dulux Acra tex on a wall to see if it gives a smoother bagged finish. So still showing the brick lines but not so rough. I'll show photos of the original bricks. Dark, very textured with lots of holes and missing bits of brick as well as deep grout grooves. Such a hard decision - cost and I don't want to make it a flat boring plasterboard house. I have extremely high cathedral ceilings so not a cheap job to plaster either. Excuse the white box - I was playing with it to look at removing arches. Any thing else you've found out since would be a great help

Thank-you all so much for your advice so far, i've already gained so many ideas simply from reading your suggestions. oskuee: The house is a single story, and we have spoken about solar tubes before but weren't too sure how to incorporate lighting fixtures within the hallway as well. How did you go about it? Did you just install the 2 solar tubes with/without lighting fixtures? scottevie: the windows in the lounge will be remaining the same, we will eventually change the colour of the curtains but not straight away, either way the styling and shape will remain the same. Surprisingly there isn't a whole lot of natural light than can enter from that point of the house. There is a very large verandah at the front of the house which this window backs on to, plus the amount of trees from the front of our property and next door's front yard makes it difficult for natural light to seap through. I just had a quick look at some Dulux White Duck examples, i definitely favour something around this colour tone. telperien: i really like the ideas of mirror(s), this would be a great idea to distribute that natural light. I think we are going to try our best to steer clear of knocking down any walls for now unless we really need to! Embrace interiors: Thank-you so much for the recommendations in paint colour and for re-assuring us that we can paint below the dado rail in a darker colour. We've had a closer look and Stone Lion is definitely the tone we are trying to achieve. If we were to paint the bottom half in Stone Lion, what would you recommend the colour of the picture frames for the artwork be on the top half? We definitely would consider painting the top half in a warmer white as you have recommended. Once again, thank-you all for your suggestions and recommendations!!

I would centre the freestanding bath on the curved wall so both the main features of the room are co-ordinated and aligned. It will make cleaning the floor easier at both ends of the bath. Select your toilet suite to have a concealed cistern built into the wall. Consider swapping vanity and shower locations, with a shorter vanity backing onto the WIR. It is still a small space and you can't have everything large, so you need to work out what is the most important. You still need space to walk around in, to dry yourself and somewhere for towel rails. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Ok first, the 750 wide bath gives 250 more wall space between shower and bath to allow a 750 wide towel rail there allowing for bath sheet size towels. For me this is the most important. Depending on how many towel rails you need you could consider hanging them on walls at back or side of bath too. This addresses functionality first. Opt C out. Niches. Cutting and tiling a niche hole in a brick wall is expensive compared to framing a little height change at end of bath. Niches are also harder to clean and will offer less shelf space. But will add width to area not reduce it. I don’t see an issue with messiness having it on same wall as shower niche. It’s your choice. A fuller floor plan may also help people commenting. Good luck