Thanks Petra, I am not very good at interior design, I see a lot of things on Houzz and think how on earth have they pulled that off!! if i was to try it, it would look awful!! I would say my previous work in the other house was nice and family normal, but this one with it being quite large and for us expensive we want it to look that way and not just nice and normal but I'm struggling everywhere!! it's great if you have buckets of money but if not it poses it's challenges, not impossible but challenging. yes good spot on the architrave that is being replaced to match upstairs which is flat and about 75mm wide, it looks more modern. thank you again for your contributions it's all very much appreciated from everyone who has take time out to reply

What an incredible hallway. This is going to look fantastic and have such an impact! Do you like bold colours? Would you like a dark blue, or green? I think it would look so striking with the wooden floor and stained glass of the door. Alternatively, a lighter more subtle colour if dark is not your thing (I love F&B setting plaster, or something similar) and a bold stair runner would really draw the eye into the space. if it weren't for the stained glass, I would possibly suggest a wallpaper instead of bold paint. With the windows and ceiling glass work as such a feature, I would let the cornicing subtly speak for itself, without trying to make it stand out- it is beautiful. What is your plan with the flooring, banisters and stairs? Personally I would paint the banisters- my colour choice would depend on the wall colour choice. I hope that's helpful. What an exciting project. I look forward to seeing an after and wish you luck with it. Rebecca

It may be worth speaking to the electrician if you're not as keen on swagging. I know they can run a "pipe" through the ceiling void with the cabling in to put extra outlets and then just drill a hole from underneath the ceiling for the light but that is dependant on the joist direction etc though. That may not be feasible for what you want to do but may be worth asking the question anyway! If not, choose hooks that blend in with the ceiling? It will be easier to assess position this way too as you can just get the electrician to hold each one up for assessment before fixing! A general rule is that lights should be 1/2 - 2/3 of the tables width and normally hung 30-36 inches above the table. Given the double height I'd probably just start the lowest pendant c40-46 inches but I'm not sure on your total ceiling height and even though it's a feature you want to make sure the table is sufficiently lit! It's probably worth drawing it out on paper

Hi. I wonder if you use the drawing room as your kitchen diner? You could then use your existing kitchen as the utility and include a downstairs toilet in there as well. I was thinking you could extend the hallway so that the door into the new kitchen diner is moved up slightly so that you enter from the area that is currently your kitchen. This would give you a full run of units along the wall between the new kitchen diner and the living room. You could then have an island, peninsula or u shaped kitchen in front of that run and have your dining table in front of the windows. For what is left of the current kitchen (after a square has been taken out for the extended hallway) you could have the toilet on the right (block the current external door) and a new external door in the middle of the back wall with units either side. The alternative is extend as planned and put the utility between the living room and new kitchen diner which would give more light to the kitchen diner area. All subject to plumbing of course!