Think of it as a cheerleader skirt look. Start with the ends and keep splitting center and adding the pleat. until you have the fullness you like. The back technically has the folded pleat and the front is the side with the folds. Hope that helps.

Good that the heat/air system is over the door and doesn't interfere with your decor too much. It appears the ceiling fixture to the right of the FP might indicate that the dining space is there. Put a sofa in front of the FP and two small accent chairs with it, facing each other over a round glass coffee table. Can you wall mount the TV left of the FP? I think the room is too narrow to put the TV above the FP - you'll strain your neck. If you mount it opposite the FP, a sofa and two chairs could work but will need to be small scale - try apartment-sized seating. The sofa could face the window with the chairs opposite it. You could turn to see the fire or to watch TV. Swivel chairs come in handy in such tight space.

You want very easy care so you won't have to be weeding, pruning, watering and feeding because it is hard work on a steep bank like that. Along the bottom edge, I'd plant a few soft, smaller plants that won't require trimming back and are OK to brush against. Many natives are great for tolerating poor soil and not needing to be nurtured or fussed over. Clumps of hardy grasses - enough of each to make an impact, say groups of 5-7 minimum. Perhaps red tussocks (Chionocloa rubra) for their bronze tints, and Silver tussock (Carex comans) for their graceful light green fronds, and Chionochloa conspicua, which is very pretty in flower, (like a miniature toetoe.) Mix in NZ iris like Libertia perigrinans for its bright orange spear like leaves and it will tolerate clay well. Marlborough rock daisy if it is a dry area. A little further back put in that lavender, smaller hebes for flower and scent, and possibly some of the many miniature flaxes which come in a range of colours. There are a few spreading prostrate coprosmas that are great in areas like this too. If you don't like the bronze rambler but it is growing well, think of it as the background to set off something that you like, so perhaps a spiky silvery plant like an astelia will contrast with it and be a feature, or a little bright green hebe, with white flowers would contrast nicely. Behind those, put the feijoas, full size flaxes, corokias, the larger hebes, pittosporums, and coprosmas.

We have been renovating an 80's home with a vaulted roof in the living/kitchen/dining area, something like your picture. We needed to make the space look bigger so we opted to hang our tv from the roof using an Adtec tv bracket in white, pretty nifty unit, all wiring, aerials etc go up the mounting pole and through the roof. The unit also swivels 360 degrees which is great for any view point in the room, including our outside area. We had a tv unit custom built by Jarramar Furniture which is like a rather large floating cupboard. The unit has 2 draws and one cupboard. All the cords etc come down the wall in the adjoining room behind the door, neatly packed into duct and back into the back of the floating cupboard. It's very neat and tidy, keeps everything off the ground and makes your space look bigger. Both Adtec and Jarramar have websites where you can check out their stuff. You just need to ensure your tv weights are ok for the Adtec unit your wish to purchase. Good luck with your design.