I see what you mean. I would ask your suppliers or whoever fitted them to come and check them and replace them for you. I personally don't think you're being over critical- that would really annoy me!

Hi ianthy In this instance I would suggest removing the shutters, that way they won't be in the way and they can then be painted separately. But I would definitely ask the decorator in question as they may have a good reason for leaving them up in your specific case. Regards KB

Whatever you do, do not have pure silk curtains, unless you are prepared to fit a blind as well. I made the mistake of buying silk curtains from Laura Ashley five years ago and they have started to fray at the edges. I do blame myself as I knew silk was not as durable as synthetic but I fell for them and hoped by having them lined and interlined they would be ok. I was wrong, as they are in a bedroom with great views I really didn't want to fit a blind as well. I am going to have to now and have the curtains repaired, by putting an edge on them in a different colour, they were far too expensive to change for new curtains as the window is very wide and the curtains are floor length, plus, they look good in the room, apart from the fact they are fraying! To start with I might just swop the curtains over, rather than have them altered, but I am certainly having a roller blind fitted, it will have to be plain white and in use when nobody is staying, luckily the bedroom is a guest room.

Hi Minerva, I think your house has lots of potential. I really like the large entrance area but I also think moving the WC there would be a better use of space. I would take out the existing wc and replace that area with glazed double doors that will give you sight lines from the front door all the way to the back garden. I imagine your current dining room and kitchen are very dark and I notice you have the lights on during the day. The remedy for this would be to remove the load bearing wall between the two areas to create a spacious open plan area. I would move the kitchen to the back and add an island with bar stool seating. I would also have the living area at the back with direct access to the garden and remove much of the rear wall and replace with glazed bi fold doors. I would expand the under stairs storage to create a utility room and consider keeping the fireplace with a fire (gas or electric) as a feature of the dining space. I would also replace what is currently the kitchen door with a window seat and replace a section of the fence facing it with a vertical garden. I think this design would give you a four great open plan spaces dining, kitchen, living and window seat/reading nook. Overall giving you a spacious, light filled house with great sight lines throughout. Window seat inspiration: