Hi there again I am not sure where you live but why don't you put a ceiling hung log burner in between the dining room and living room. This will add a focal point, heat the entire downstairs of the house really efficiently and break up the open plan space into zones. Personally speaking I would defo keep the living room separate, having done a lot of research on this when we did up our derelict house I found that most families loved open plan kitchen/ dining and family room space but everyone wanted a separate living space to escape to. Also would be worth bearing in mind that open plan allows you to do only one thing, so if you wanted to listen to music whilst you cooked but your partner wanted to watch tv this wouldn't be possible in open plan. Having a separate living space allows you do different things/ activities etc without encroaching on those you live with (hope this makes sense am not being very articulate!!)

So funny! I'm planning to paint the bannister at the new house (TNH) black and am veering towards painting the treads and risers black too... I've been searching for images of black staircases on Houzz and putting them in my entrance hall ideabook. They are few and far between. In your case, I think, with your white walls, maybe the stairs white and the bannister black? (Assuming the white walls continue up the stair walls enabling the b/w contrast.) You've already put black firmly into the equation, adding some more may give more reason for the black rad cab. In my case, there is a very off-centre radiator that could so very easily have been directly opposite the front door in TNH which is rather annoying as it stuffs up the focal point. We are leaving here with every radiator covered with a cabinet - and going to TNH that has loads of radiators ...but no cabinets! Yes, the work ahead is daunting - especially since the area of Ireland we're going to is very basic and not full of DIY resources, etc. I keep thinking I'll paint TNH white - to make things simpler(!) But try as I may colour keeps wandering through my mind! Lovely to be in touch again!

We had a fabulous opening thank you. Our launch has successfully got the message out that we are a Neptune stockist featuring all their range. We don't have enough room to showcase bedrooms but everything else is on display including the new Easter decorations! Thanks for your support!

Thank you for your comments. @Jonathan your plans are quite close in layout to our grand design which involved a 5m extension across the back of the house with a pitched roof on either side of a middle entrance to the utility / dog room. QS was saying £300k plus optionals (like the kitchen apparently!). Do you think we could achieve something like your plan for £100k? @Emily Lukes that is a really interesting idea and has encouraged us to think more openly about the whole space. I should have said that the store/office are in the garage. My husband works from home all the time and I do sometimes (even without Covid-19) so we have to have some study space. Lots of food for thought. Thank you.