I agree made.com is a good option, both for table/chairs and for a corner sofa which is the style I'd go for - modern, good way to 'zone' space, neat and comfy. The mendini was my favourite for style and comfort. Or Venturi though this was a bit bigger I think. Percy are lovely dining chairs, though Ikea now have similar & tables too so worth checking also. Too much choice sometimes.

Hi Jenny, I would start by making a wish list of what you really need. This will determine your list of appliances that will need housing, how much worktop will be needed, how many sinks, how large your hob will be, how much storage to store food and kitchenware etc. As it is an open plan space you will need to consider the sizes of sofas/armchairs that you have or are buying and size of dining table. Another important thing to consider is the sofas orientation. Are you having TV in the room? Where are the sockets for this etc. All of this really matter when you are looking at the layout of an open plan space. Take advantage of high ceilings in period property and make sure you have easy access to all every day items otherwise you will clutter your worktops. Look at options of designs where living room cabinetry is integrated with kitchen. Start with your detailed brief and the layout will evolve naturally. Suzanne

I'm not sure it is such a large recess that you would get a way with making a feature of it as mentioned above. A dropped ceiling with LED would be more appropriate, but that is likely to cost more than simply having the fluorescent taken out an the hole boarded and plastered. There are large LED panel fittings for sale on Bay, but the max. size of these seems to be 30 x 120, which is too small to fill or cover your gap. If you are looking for an inexpensive solution, then you (or a handy local electrician) could try making your own light fitting on a dropped panel to cover it over - something that fits the scale and proportion of the room better than that recess does! (it's not clear how the recess is positioned in relation to the other structures in the room, but here's a couple of ideas...) It's probable, though, that you are relying on this one source of light too much. Even if you have a very bright light on your kitchen ceiling there will still be shadows cast that will stop you from being able to see when you're using your work surfaces, unless you have strategically placed LED downlighter recessed in the ceiling. Perhaps you could think about fitting some LED strips under your wall cabinets to provide some bright task lighting over your worktops. IKEA has a great solution for this and if you do it you'll find you don't need to worry about the quality of light from above quite so much, which then broadens the range of single pendant fittings you could look at using. The strips also provide great mood lighting when the kitchen is not being used :)

Hi, you could knock through kitchen and living room - you’d have a lovely kitchen/dining/living space. Then have the existing dining room as evening lounge or snug. Depends on your family situation I think as to whether you want the stairs off this room. You have a lot of doors - blocking one or two of them off would obviously give you more wall space to play with for furniture. Alternatively, knock through kitchen and dining room together; and have a glass wall where I’ve shown, so that your stairs are off a new hallway. I saw something on Houzz but I can’t find it now, where they’d done something similar to let light in; think there was a nook for a desk or storage in the hall too. Good luck x