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!

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 . .

Sophisticated start. You could go with black and white photography, architectural pieces, art pieces- anything you love on the wall. Then, add pillows in the colors of the art work. If you want to stay more monochromatic, think in terms of textural interest, such as a shag area rug, pillows with seam detailing, etc.

Hello, I am hoping to get some ideas for reconfiguring the lay out for my 1950’s home I’ve purchased if anyone can help please? I am single, live alone and it will be my ‘forever’ home and has great views of the Tauranga harbour which I want to make the most of, of course :) Any ideas for one or all requirements are gratefully accepted thanks! They are as follows: 1. A new ensuite and walk in robe off the side of the front bedroom beside the lounge as I want that to be my bedroom with a view. There is sufficient room to build along the outside of that side of the house toward the boundary; the ensuite to face the view please. Perhaps change the entrance door to that bedroom off the hall way somehow? 2. Reconfigure a new kitchen; the existing one is quite skinny and there is really only room for one person between the bench and the return bench. No room to build out from that side of the house, but the deck is huge. I have considered building out over the deck but assume it would involve a lot of $ as would require engineers reports etc. The deck is a solid (old) concrete roof over what is now a block basement which used to be the old garage. 3. To somehow join the existing garage up to the house so I have internal entry from that. In the ‘joining’ space somewhere is where I envisage the front entry way with some storage cupboards etc as the house has almost no storage. The existing garage is an old tin one and needs to be replaced. It is also raised higher than the house level and there is as retaining wall between the garage and the house. Ideally I’d like to dig it all out and make it one level but that will be dictated by finances. However, I've been unable to work out how to join them if they are different levels - aesthetically wise. There would have to be steps down (which I don't really want if I’m getting old here…) so how would the roof line look right? 4. Reconfigure/Remove the existing toilet and/or bathroom as presently the main door into the house comes inbetween these and I don't want the entrance right beside the toilet - eek! The existing bathroom is also the laundry. My thoughts were to move them in to either bedroom 2 or 3, and extend to get another bedroom somehow, or, put them at the back of the new addition joining the garage to the house somehow? 5. The lounge and dining room have alcoves built in that serve no real purpose; both the dining and lounge could be larger if possible. I want to put my couch along the wall which backs on to the dining room so I can look at the view while watching TV etc. I’m not overly keen on open plan so thought I could build a wall there and move the entrance to the dining closer to the hall end of the lounge? 6. To retain 3 bedrooms, one to be used as an office. I am very grateful for any ideas anyone could put forward - many thanks in advance :) Unfortunately the website will not allow me to upload photos so I will have to contact them to see what is going on - sorry!