Now it's beginning to work! Luv the rug! A few more red showstoppers, and I luv the post about matting your family pic, and larger frame for it. Looks like you might be a bit uncomfortable with the great post idea of moving your sofa out into the room away from wall. If so, could you accept putting it diagonally from the entrance doorway, across that corner where it is, stopping at the edge of your window? That's a bit of a move outward, still can see the fp and tv, and show off your new rug, which could go diagonally in front of the sofa. Then, if you like that, after a while you could move it on out as Deb K suggests. Sometimes intermediate steps are more doable for us than those big changes.Same with painting; if you could first paint just the fp wall, then later paint other walls...seems some color would really make it more homey. Would you cosider a quite contemporary fixture for the light in the center ceiling? Maybe a bit of red could go there!

I love the color you have on the wall by the patio doors. I'd go with that all over if you want the space to feel warm. Or, if you want the rooms to feel cooler, you may want to go with sky blue or a calm green. The right shade of green brings in your outdoor plants, which looks very nice when you are looking out through the windows. Your flooring would look fine with any of these choices. Grey is another color to consider. I personally do not like it, yet is is quite popular now, especially with contemporary interiors.

Awesome Houzzers, thanks for the responses. Overwhelming consensus seems to be that they dont work (at least without distressing the table, which sounds complicated). I am now thinking maybe I move the sofa upstairs and buy it a new coffee table along the lines suggested by maureen and lee lee (thanks). In the living room, I could then leave the oak coffee table, together with the armchair that works with it (it has a similar oak frame and is covered in natural linen). Then I can find a new sofa to match the coffee table. Any tips? The coffee table is 1200 x 1200mm. You guys seem to think that is ginormous - how big would the sofa need to be to look proportional? I am thinking of an L shaped sectional. Possibly also in some kind of natural linen fabric? The living room is big (5m x 8m?). Thanks again - much appreciated!

Hi Mandamaree, You are fairly limited in space and in the size of the bedrooms to introduce what you request without compromising these spaces and future expansions to the house. The lounge too is a bit of a thoroughfare in the current layout. However, a few suggestions to ponder. Ensuite to B1, this could be just a 1m wide x 2.7m long space either along the wall to bedroom 2 or expand the wardrobe to 1m wide and re build a 600mm int. depth W/R along the B2 wall. If you used the existing wardrobe for the ensuite though, B3 would have no robe, but if it is to be a study, this may not be a concern. Alternatively, you could build in the space where the back door is and incorporate a toilet beside the laundry. Put the back door in the laundry. The toilet could be either beside the bathroom or B2. You could also economise by not having two accesses to the back corridor. (one from the living room and one from the kitchen) If you are looking at renovating the kitchen, I'd block off the back hall access opening and build a full wall of bench and joinery along that wall and either make an opening in the wall between the kitchen and living room or open it all up, except the back 600-700mm portion at the end of the joinery. If you remove the wall between the kitchen and living - might need a beam to replace it, then I'd extend the peninsular bench between the dining and kitchen, making sure it does not make the dining too small. You should have a minimum of 1200mm between kitchen benches so 2560 is good for this. You can butt the dining table upto the peninsular and still have 5 people seated around the table rather than have a breakfast bar. The space is too tight for a bar. Storage - always a drama in these older homes. Work high level units into the laundry and if possible, the bathroom. If you can afford to lose a few mm from the living room, make B2 robe the proper 600mm deep and include the old fireplace area too. As it is only a guest room, make part of that for the storage you need, i.e, suitcases, boxes of 'stuff' etc. The robe in B2 should be no less than 1200mm long to future proof this as a kids room or for rental. Hope that helps. Cheers, Christine.