Hi all I'm Carolyn from Brampton, Ontario. It's nice to read the bios and meet everyone who is so committed to décor and design. I studied Interior Decorating at Sheridan College about 30 years ago - yikes, I think I was 10 - a real prodigy :-) Kidding aside, it's a wonderful time to be in this field with all of the new technology, resources and product available to us. Like Keitha I started when my children were small. I remember having to design and water colour render a 2500 square foot house for our final project and now it's almost all done on the computer. A "Diva" I'm not. For me my job is about helping my clients create spaces that reflect them, who they are, where they have been and how they live. Helping them to define what they want and show them how to achieve it. The process is a collaboration and usually involves a team of contractors, trades and suppliers who all value the same commitment to providing exceptional, professional and timely service, whether it be a small or large budget. I guess it stands to reason that since my second passion is cooking my favourite spaces to design are kitchens. Creating a kitchen that not only looks good, but works and is a pleasure to be in is a great sense of accomplishment. I don't profess to know everything there is about design but I do know where to find the answers and am definitely a pit bull when it comes to a challenge. Not sure if it’s a blessing or a curse, but my mind doesn't stop exploring the possibilities until we find the best possible solution. It's definitely a profession where you are always learning, revaluating, exploring new possibilities and ideas and growing. I feel privileged to have worked with so many wonderful people over the years, as clients and associates and have made many lifelong friends through the process. My clients range from Baby Boomers who are downsizing and starting on a new path in their lives to young urban professionals who are just starting their lives and families. I look forward to learning and seeing all of the new projects here on Houzz and wish you all well. I'd also like to thank OnePlan for starting the post. It's a pleasure to meet so many like minded people.

i agree with oneplan completely. this hasn't been designed and its been done on inferior design software with no care to propping or dressing the room to make it look like a room you want to live in. its all very well putting in blocks of units in solid colours, but a kitchen designer doesn't put units on walls and leave it there, the room is decorated, floored, propped, lit up etc etc and then you would not feel so hesitant about it all. there's nothing wrong with the layout per say, its fairly standard, I just think you have not been able to visualise yourself in the room. go back to your designer and ask him (or her) to put some colour in the room, to play with a feature wall, to prop it a bit, to play about with different flooring so that you can get a feel about the room and what you would like.

Hiya Jill, thanks for sending those images over. In response to your first question about your bedroom, I can think of a couple of solutions that may work. The first is the same solution as my previous French window answer to @montbray and fit something that moves with the window, either a Pleated or a Venetian which operate under tension and open with a thumb tab rather than a cord. Alternatively, it would look quite nice if a blind, particularly a Roman blind was fitted right to the top of the wall above the window, at the ceiling. This will allow the blind to be ‘dressed’ to form a valance effect above the window when the blind is open, giving full view from, and use of the window and when it is closed, it will give the illusion of the window being taller. In the case of your bathroom blind, you might like to try a waterproof Roller blind made from PVC fabric. Alternatively, Faux wood blinds are a really great idea, as they have all the look of traditional Wooden blinds, but won't warp in wet or steamy conditions. Admittedly, it is a difficult window to dress and there are not a lot of options, but hopefully, these will give you some ideas. Sarah

Thank you all for views! We had considered various options such as those suggested but then would always come back to one of our boxes not being ticked so I do agree we may have created more walls than needed and maybe cramped the space? However I did still think the kitchen would be spacious enough? And the living room wall, when building we could see how we feel about this. I do think a dining table could also work in that corner and playroom instead of the dining room BUT then we are without the living room that we wanted. In terms of dining and kids eating, in our current house we have a breakfast bar with 4 stools and a high chair and his does work well. Also I would use the dining area/table as a family too but realistically probably not everyday. Maybe a small round table could be put into the kitchen also? I would just have to see what fits without it’s being cramped. Utility I thought it would make sense to have access from the kitchen? In terms of the formal lounge, I think that’s all it is...we want it as a formal lounge, also as someone mentioned it will stay tidy and away from the noise. Id say a large chunk of the house is dedicated to me and the children and I thought that area could be a kid free zone in a sense. I also have a lot of nephews/nieces that would visit often. It’s more about it being formal than it being dedicated to my husbands entertainment as unfortunately he doesn’t have much time for this due to long work hours.