Cushions are definitely a nice addition to a bed when it comes to comfort and cosiness. Rich, fluffy cushions add to the feeling you want to have when you are in bed: you want to feel relaxed. Besides, although they can be a pain to remove before sleeping if you have too many of them, they upgrade your bed to the next design level. I have 5 cushions, all of them rectangular and fluffy. I have mixed the colours, patterns, and textures in order to make my bed stand out: a nice trick for that is to use white sheets, and vivid and colourful cushions to contrast with the whiteness of the bed. Plain velvety mustard yellow and fushia plain cushions mixed with green geometric patterns, ... I've got them all!

I install home automation equipment and lighting controls. I don't have a TV in the house : ) I do though, have a projector with a retractable screen. This has totally changed the way we watch TV. We only watch what we want to - which is mainly programs recorded via Youview or films. When the projector isn't on, the screen is out of sight in the ceiling and the room is setup for more social activities. Personally, I couldn't be without the radio. We have speakers in every room for this and music in general. Upstairs this is done with inceiling speakers so again, it is a discrete system.

One bathroom per person + cloakroom for guests surely is convenient, but they all need maintenance. In an ideal world en-suit for each bedroom, a lush master bathroom and a guest bathroom, but in London's reality, an en-suit for master bedroom, family bathroom and a cloakroom for guests is just about enough.

I might be wrong but I've used Jali once a few years ago and mine was mdf as i recall it was a nightmare to paint! I also thought mdf was more stable than wood? TBH your quote sounds really good, as long as it's constructed properly I can't see it being an issue, I'd speak to your carpenter about any concerns. can you not build a stud frame for the chimney breast and use dry lining instead of mdf (although someone told me a while ago you'd never know it was mdf, whether that's true I don't know!)