@kmkane... The "old thread" comments, at least from ME... aren't for any other reason than letting some contributors know, that the advice they might believe they are giving, may be moot. I know that when I 1st became involved on Houzz, I was glad when someone indicated that I may be addressing a question which had probably been answered months (if not years) ago. Helped me "learn" to check the original posting date before blathering on about an issue someone was no longer interested in.

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.

Bring the window down to meet the cupboard. Really lefty47 was right about not drawing attention to it. It is a source of light ,,, so no need to clutter it up. But if you took the colour out and painted the top of the cupbard to match the wall it ceases to draw attention to itself. Just because it is a horizontal space does not meant it needs something put on it. Note- With the cupboard being white, it also draws attention to itself … perhaps take that to the wall colour too and lift the pendant a smidge. So your pendant is the feature there. The cupboard … do yo need it? One way to remove what you are calling dead space is to get rid of the cupboard.

I think it would make both rooms too dark. Maybe go with a lighter floor colour?