Communitec, well I for one would like to put in a full electronic home security system with motion activated cameras so if there is an alarm I can view everything on my phone but my house has concrete walls and ceilings so potential installers all want to leave all cables on the surface - even wifi systems require power cables or new batteries way too often. For the same reason the rear speakers for my theatre system are in front with the other speakers - apart from cables to run the wall behind is a glass block feature wall. As for veering off topic goes, well I see people commenting on the appearance of things like thermostats and what functions they have as well as a lot on their aesthetics, so lighting, switches, sockets and control interfaces are on topic really. The fact that a lot of people simply accept these items without thought just goes to show how today's new tech becomes tomorrow's standard and expected items. Where we locate things has changed a lot due to changes in usage patterns and acceptance of items in different settings - phones are rarely in hallways now for example, even though that was a standard location up to the 1970s (and are disappearing in favour of hand phones). My computer always used to be in a room used as an office but I'm typing this on front of the TV on my notebook (no more PC) - tech evolving to suit environment or attitudes evolving to allow tech into what were exclusion zones or perhaps a mixture of the two?

Hi Diana, Whenever I specify Roman Blinds I recess them into the window and put dress curtains on each side (not functioning, purely for show and to soften the look) The issue I have is that the failure rate on Romans is very high, the pull string mechanism is very delicate and can jam up after regular use. Given the choice I would not specify them. My preferred solution is to inset plantation shutters into each window and then dress the outside with a simple pair of dress curtains each side or a modern swag over the head. I have done this on traditional interiors and ultra modern and they always look good. I never have any ongoing issues and the light quality the blades give is wonderful. (I prefer a large blade and avoid the central pole in favour of a hidden mechanism.) Another interesting feature of plantation shutters is that in the evening you push the shutters up for privacy and this deflects the heat back into the room, it saves a lot of money !! Hope that helps, Martin www.angel-martin.com www.3dinteriorillustration.co.uk

I am at work so no photos at the moment [will take some later] but we had it boxed in by builder next to the bathtub [we have a shower over bathtub]. It is 90cm x 85cm. We have a washer dryer and then 3 shelves from ikea algot range for stacking laundry baskets, loo roll and the like - our ceilings are high - 2.6m. We also keep ironing board and iron in there. Our electrician signed off everything and I think our bathroom is a bit bigger than yours - 2.2m x 2.6m. The utility cupboard is on the long wall see attached plan. It looks a bit like the photo below but instead of hanging space we have shelves We painted the doors same colour as walls and we have a roof light plus higher ceilings so it doesn't feel small at all. All our tatt is in the cupboard or sink vanity unit so the bathroom is much tidier than an average bathroom. We also have a glass shower screen so everything feels light and bright.

Hi Chris. I went for a very similar dark grey in my dining room too and opted for pale ivory damask curtains. Only reason I went for ivory is that the white gloss on the architraves and dado rail has yellowed over the years so they matched quite well...and they were a sales bargain:) To be fair I only did a quick tart up hence not refreshing the woodwork. Your dining room gets a lot more light than mine and there’s a lot of green reflected from the plants outside so considering your furniture I might opt for a very pale washed linen for a natural soft look or if you want to be brave with colour I think a dupion silk or velvet can look very opulent. I think there are lots of colours that could work well. I like the jewel colours like teal or emerald green, fuschia pink or burnt orange, perhaps yellow even. I opted for a natural green as an accent colour in our dining room, seemed to work well with the charcoal grey and ivory. Here’s some more inspo pics: