Try this. Hang the television to the right of the wood stove on the wall opposite the french doors. Use the wall with the high windows for a looong sofa and add two chairs across / angled slightly - low back so you can look over one to television. use console / sofa table on entry /bed door wall just past where entry door opens so you have a lay down surface. Forget glass, it isn't for this era and won't make it feel bigger. Paint ALL french doors inside and out and small windows and entry door same color and trim same color too. Try a charcoal rather than a black - something in the blue-green-gray shades like new providence navy. do all the walls in kitchen and living in a warm white - this tone has the wood as an undertone - http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/woodash then, for the cabinets . . do a bungalow thing and go deeper on the cabinets to a classic drabware tone - with the wood walls and floors / try bm bracken biscuit http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/brackenbiscuit these will all go together like gangbusters, keep it light and bright but interesting and work with a new blue green gray back door in a tone like bm beach glass http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/beachglass templeton gray as a counterpoint on some craigslist piece of furniture . . add warm undertone tan and oatmeal nubby tweed upholstery to start . . the teal navy gray will work with the black iron stove and accents without going black. start keeping the left door to the kitchen closed and get a door stop to hold the other one open permanently . . this will work because you need a little more wall to make the tv work well - in the kitchen, pull your table away from the wall just a tad - consider a padded bench on the wall to provide a kind of sitting space in there and put the chairs across - if you shift your television to the wall (high enough the heat is not an issue , you can still have big speakers work well - and remote the media equipment - run the wire and patch the holes. Hang it mid-height - eye level when you sit plus 15 degrees . . check out the amazing sconces you can put on the entry wall - shades of light petersik pendant with home-made trim wood brace to pump it out from the wall since the power is high? over the console? round wood table in middle - even a hd butcherblock round on a painted drum base in trim tone? With those tones - teal gray, biscuit, creamy off-white, muted blue-greens - paint your white chairs and a hand me down bench wythe blue and find a graphic sunbrella print with a little blue green, chocolate and orange for cushions and pad skirts with velcro at the table . . make a galvinized pipe leg / plank 1 x 12 / clear finish console for behind the door . . now you are cooking with gas . .

Your deck will be amazing. It has fantastic form and plenty of architectural interest, it will add enormous benefit to the front facade and street appeal. I love your palette, it is simple and still has point sof interest. MY suggestion would be to use a combination of your exterior colours applied where best to highlight the deck structure and either tie in, or accent against it. Ding all of these things by painting the lower retaining section in the base grey the charcoal colour to continue and blend into the lower floor brickwork, also do this charcoal on the upper deck frame which is also the roof of that entry way. I am trying to say that thick timber which trims the deck. And the slatted section of the stair wall which acts as a breezeway in the light grey- why? Because the open sections of the slats will always appear black as you can see through them to under the satirs, and the light grey slats will stand out and feature that shadow line, perhaps even use liting to further enhance this detail. Lastly, the stair treads themselves left natural, like an architectural contemporRy stAtement, the natural timber tones will be rich and sophisticated and act as art inviting you to the home. These stairs would really pop and be commentedon at street level, also consider lights in each tread, perhaps the slatted wall side to highlight both this and the stirs for night practicality. What a stunning entrance. The natural character in rich timber tones will warm the grey, keep it contemporary and not introduce personalized colour, which can take away from street appeal. This on the other hand, appeals to everyone. And greenery, landscaping will only take this to the next level. Literally!

I'm a bit confused -- you seem to want the front yard to do everything ! Privacy , entertaining , curb appeal , paving , gardens , front door -- you can't have all of that because of the conflicts between those . Do you have room out the back for a private entertaining area , for example ? But even more basic -- I like the house , the curb appeal -- but the brown stain doesn't gel with me . If you paint the 'edge' ( 200 x 50 or thereabouts by the look of it ) and steps in the same tone as your trim ( the slightly darker blue tone ) you'd get away with the rest of the terrace being that brown , or go for a browny silver re-stain . A yellow door would really stand out , a slightly lighter brighter blue would tie in , whilst a gloss black will mean it won't stand out as much , but look classy . Then I'd do a narrow garden around the edge of the grass , a letterbox at the start of the path ( well , slightly to the side haha ) , something nice but unique in the wall colour , with you street numbers in the blue . That will guide people as to where to 'enter' towards the front door . The entertaining area ( a bbq and seating ) I'd try to do out the back , but you could do it in that 'downstairs' area to the left of the garages , using darker toned or stained bamboo panels or even laser cut steel or alloy panels mixed in there , maybe even ply painted your blue trim colour mixed with 'natural' bamboo or matchstick type panels . Of course , if you really want private , you could do that area in solid 2.4 mtr tall concrete walls , rendered and painted to match the house , but due to the size and narrowness of the area , i'd personally go for something more casual , more breezy and open , but each to their own .

Hi JT, It depends on how many bedrooms you need overall. With the downstairs bedroom, you currently have 6 bedrooms. Is that what you need? Depending on what type of guests you expect, it might be nice to retain a downstairs guest suite. Grandparents might like partial autonomy and separation from small children etc or might not want to climb all the stairs every day. Also if it is kept separate from the main family sleeping areas, you could 'let out' the guest room to a cousin or family friend in need for a short term if desired! What about putting the formal dining into the front lounge/bedroom and making the larger formal dining room into the guest suite. That way you could have the ensuite plumbing adjacent the laundry. You could make the window beside the garage a bit smaller for the ensuite to keep the bedroom space as large as you can. If it's for guests only, you can build a small wardrobe on the wall backing onto the stairs and maybe build in a small desk or dresser. This would give guests easy access to the kitchen too for that early cuppa. Good luck, C.