Excuse my duh-ness but i'm having difficulty trying to follow whats going on here. Are these two photos an exact replica of your house and pool ? If not a hasty sketch with dimensions could help a lot. By kitchen wall do you mean the wall behind the bar ? And where is the pool wall ? Are you considering the covered area as being "inside" ? Sorry for all those questions lol Sometimes when you have a design problem you need to turn it inside out or on it's head. If you can't beat it maybe embrace it by making a feature of it : i.e. contrast by having the lightest colored pool surround and a great blue or tile inside and under the overhang, something that will echo the water color ? If you have a great covered area as in photo you'll most likely be spending a lot of time there and it could be soothing to be able to sometimes retire into a darker inside. In my book, 10M isn't small and also contrasting two floor colors doesn't necessarily make a space seem smaller and confined and may in fact even open it up. Could it be that you've thought yourself into a box here ? Sometimes one needs to give it all a good shake up and see how it resettles.

I recently painted my doors, frames and skirting with a white gloss water based paint. I have had no issues with it. it has been done about 6 months. Has not peeled, chipped or anything like that, it wipes like any other gloss paint. It did not smell and went on fine. I gave everything two to three coats. The doors three very fine coats with a fine napped roller. Quite pleased with my efforts except where my husband dripped ceiling paint down one and did not notice grrrrrrr. He hardly ever paints (unsupervised) thought he would surprise me by doing cornice while I was at work, so the grrrrr was on the inside. The water based gloss does not yellow like the oil based paints.

I agree with emily. if you want leave connections and/or a little extra room for what you don't want, but feel you may need for resale. I think the tub is a pretty important item. wet room not at all, and shower is give or take. i would prefer a big shower and a tub for soaking in, but I have always had the combo. I remember my mom built during big wet bar craze, she did not care for one. had space built, capped off connections and use as a closet. Now it is 35 years later, everyone wants to buy and tear down. Darned if you do, darned if you don't. i agree, I would also really like the separate toilet, we are not share everything people.

Can anyone recommend a cabinet maker who could make a four poster bed, alternatively we could buy one ready made. I've done the usual google search and found limited options in NZ. Any ideas, recommendations would be most appreciated.