Hi Minnie, thank you so much for your ideas! I really appreciate you took the time to share them us. You've really given us plenty to think about. Toys and kids clutter seems to be a permanent fixture in the house at the moment, so your point on the mess exposed in open plan setting is something we'll certainly need to give more thought to. Converting the whole of the garage we haven't really thought of, to be honest. It would definitely give us more room to comfortably fit in the playroom. One possible drawback though could be lack of light. The only suitable location for the window would really be the current garage door, and that side doesn't really get good light during the day. However, there's nothing above the garage so perhaps a skylight could be a way? Also, I'm sort of in two minds about how separate I want the kids space to be. Sometimes closing the door and letting them do their own thing is really convenient and helps keep us sane ;) but ideally, I think, I'd like their wee corner to be a part of the family space so that we easily keep an eye. I'll need to mull that over a bit more to be honest, and try to look further into the future. I love the way you've designed kitchen/dining space at the back. It makes sense the two are linked. The cost consideration is a strong argument for sure, but the installations are poor as it is, pipes exposed in the cupboards, so will need to be rehauled one way or another. The reason we thought of putting kitchen units along the left wall was the light. We sort of had an idea of side skylights/roof lights at the side return part, and a bifold door on back wall opening into the garden. Something along the lines of the photo below. Does that make sense? I've no renovation experience nor architectural know how, so not even sure if that would work!? I would love to hear what you think if you have some more time to spare. Thanks again for your help

Thank you all very much for your suggestions. The fireplace is basically to create a focal point in the room. I can't have a real fire or gas fire as there is no chimney. So the plan is to have an electric fire with dummy chimney breast. Marcin, Thank you for your comment. I agree with you I don't like the curtains either. We inherited them from the previous owners. So they definitely need changing. I'll be grateful to see a 3D model. Where is your email?

I would consider having something other than downlights - either in addition to them or instead of - in the dining/living area Downlights especially LEDs can be an unforgiving light and don't provide any options. In my kitchen I have LED downlights, however, I have dimmable halogens in the dining bit, with a pair of wall lights, which make it feel warmer, cosier and more relaxing. I would have liked a pendant light fitting but the downlights were already there and we didn't want to go to the bother of redoing the ceiling. I would agree with Jonathan on under cupboard lighting - don't underestimate how much light you need in a kitchen and utility room. We have under cupboard lights and also in-cupboard lighting in the glass fronted wall cabinets. We have 18 downlights in the kitchen part (roughly 4.5m x 5.5m) of our kitchen/diner on two different switches (the diner bit is on a third switch/dimmer and wall lights on a fourth ) which proves most useful. Our utility is a separate room approx 3.5M x 3.5m and we have 6 downlights in there. Probably obvious, but don't have the downlights situated directly above the worktops/cabinets, if you have wall cupboards. Try to ensure you get full coverage of light over the room, to avoid dark patches, that can be aided by having tiltable downlights.

What a lovely room and great windows. Your issue is that although it’s a large room it’s virtually square so doesn’t lend itself to being chopped in half and your central door doesn’t help this. Also your rounded table and sofas don’t enhance the shape of the room and I would go for straight lines for both table and sofas. The dining table could be placed in the corner alongside the door which would allow a larger sofa to be pushed a little further back and moved sideways towards the door. This would open up space for other seating in front of the right hand window (shame to cover some of the window but if you kept the back low I think this would look ok). The other sofa you have alongside the fireplace is too big for the space but if you had extra seating by the window you could perhaps replace with a swivel chair. The tv would need to sit on the right hand side of the fireplace so a swivel would allow tv viewing. This would leave a nice space beneath the left hand window where you could maybe put a console table, tiny desk, etc to balance out the room and bring focus to your lovely window. Hope this all makes sense!