Thanks for posting new views of your room. You are right, nothing can go in front of the paneling, and we won't block the built-in cubby. In that case let's work with the rest of the space. I found a picture on Houzz for your gallery wall. I think this will allow you to bring in color and texture and interest to your wall without taking up space like furniture would. Try to play with portraits and a couple of paintings in there too - mix it up. Otherwise I would not put anything at the top of that landing (I'd remove that console table). That picture wall should be enough visual interest to your space and it'll draw the eye to the furthest wall as you walk in your house. I would try a small piece with closed storage between the bottom steps and that door by the entry. It looks like the space is no wider than 26", so it'll be a challenge to find something that fits and is tall enough. I would not use the wooden piece you showed above because you want wider proportions and fairly narrow depth so you don't bump into it as you walk by. (something like this ) I would hang a mirror on top of primping. By the cubby you could add a single seat stool. I'm not particularly suggesting these colors for the stool and bombe chest but something along these shapes. At this point if you do that big picture wall and add these two pieces of furniture and a mirror, you might not need to hang anything on the wall above the cubby. Also, I noticed your chandelier is quite substantial for the space and hanging pretty low. Would raising it a little or replacing it by something a little smaller be an option?

I think the first layout is fine. You might want to consider moving the door for the storage room of the master bedroom so that it opens into the hall. That way the kids can use it for overflow storage. Also, that hallway is big enough that I think it could hold a large armour, providing more closet space. (There's no need to sleep in the same room as your clothes, so long as they're not too far off.) Also, don't forget that while the drawing shows kids in double beds, this need not be the case, so there will be more room for furniture (dressers or whatever) in their rooms. Finally, that step to bedroom 4 will not be odd at all. I've seen it in other homes. It looks clumsy in the drawing but it isn't. What you'll see when you come up the stairs is a bedroom door on a slight diagonal. It's only an odd jagged step if you walk like a robot, in straight lines along the wall, which is what your eye is doing on the drawing but you won't do in real life.

I won't bother with lattice, barrels are partially obscured from the street by fencing and if I put it up I would have to work around the lattice in order to turn the valves for water. If I can just make better use of collected water I'll be happy. We are at the end of our growing season so I should be cleaning up the garden and putting it to bed for the winter, just can't seem to get motivated. We had our first frost last week. Usually, our average early frost date is 1 November. I got almost no produce from garden this year, but there is always next year. Chookchook2 I've seen some of those decorative metal panels and they are gorgeous, sure hope your budget will allow you to get some before too long. Most of our state has been on fire for a good part of the summer. The closest is across the river from us and they have been battling it for almost a month. Some friends have had to evacuate repeatedly. We've only been concerned once, a small grass fire on our side of the river on a day we had wind gusts up to 65mph. Fortunately, it was put out quickly. Australia and New Zealand have both sent firefighters to help with the blazes. I can't begin to tell you how appreciative we are. The closest fire was fought for almost a week by local volunteers only as there were no other resources available. They were all on other fires. The Army National Guard (reserve troops) were called out to help with support duties and for the first time ever the federal Department of Natural Resources (DNR) asked for civilian volunteers to help with non firefighting tasks, cutting fire breaks, moving supplies etc.

There are some great comment here, but my take on this would be if you are going custom to take your time and look around. Many designers offer different takes on each person's preference. The colours you have are good but I'd personally would opt for a more warmer cream, with a self print pattern. I would also suggest pinch pleated curtains and not pencil pleat as you have currently, pinch pleated curtains will give you uniformed pleats from top to bottom. In addition to this I would suggest you use blackout linen to prevent light to enter the room, and possibly interlining so that you retain some thermal properties in your fixtures. Having custom made curtains are a lifetime choice for most customers, take your time and don't settle for the first company you come across. The space above your bed i would possibly add a sheer fabric roman blind which is slightly see through but enough to give you privacy if you bedroom is situated on the ground floor. You can also get the a roman blind to match your new curtains if you'd like a more repetitive theme in your bedroom. I would suggest if you do opt for a roman blind, and you are looking for a good qualities add blackout linen. If you would like a rough estimation on what you would be looking at we can assist you so you are aware of what most reputable curtain making specialist charge in this current market.