Hi Catherine, You have a lovely open plan kitchen and lounge, but as you say, it lacks punch and interest. Since you're stuck with the stainless steel kitchen for the time being, you need to work with it and have some fun. A symmetrical arrangement of stainless steel shelves either side of the splash back for the cooker would allow you to put up interesting bottles, plants, china, etc. What about painting this wall a bright colour like Seville Orange from Crown and the other walls in natural white. You could also paint the base of the island in the Seville Orange. In the seating area, use the orange colour and some others like plum or blue-grey in fabric patterns, have cushions made up for the seating area. Also an area rug large enough for the front feet of your sofas and the coffee table to sit on with colour would brighten up this area. It's unfortunate that the TV is blocking a French window. Can it be moved somewhere else, perhaps the bay if the bottom shutters are never opened? Instead of half of the bay window having plantation shutters, I would recommend a second upper row, which could be folded back or, if you don't need coverage for privacy on the upper windows, have an interesting, colourful valance. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=valance+and+plantation+shutters+for+a+bay+window&biw=1516&bih=839&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIzdu7xO-FyAIVh0gUCh1aigXI&dpr=0.95#tbm=isch&q=valance++for+a+bay+window&imgrc=SjLxqYYGnQmhlM%3A

Hi Sofaiza, It sounds like you have done great so far and have a great space. Well done. I have just completed a kitchen design with what sounds like exactly the same kitchen units. We went for a speckled white worktop which worked really well. We then chose a light grey with a hint of blue for the walls - this is modern and fresh and works well with the white gloss and with the silvers or whites that may appear elsewhere in the kitchen. What flooring have you gone for? For a contrast Black worktop went well and was considered for the same project I mentioned. For the features walls the tiles sound intriguing but I would need to see them to get a better idea or know if they would work with the design. Sounds good though. I am happy to forward a few images of the project here if you want to get in touch. It will give you an idea of how it will all look. I also have trade accounts with the companies I purchased from last time which maybe of interest to you if you are planning on purchasing yourself (not through a tradesmen or designer). My email address is gina.everett@createperfect.co.uk or feel free to call the office on 0208 133 0702. All the best, Gina

Hi all, Thank you for your comments; I appreciate them! Natasha - the units you have suggested are very much what I had in mind. We will have a shaker kitchen and the media unit would also be shaker style and would have 4-6 cupboards with the TV in the middle with book shelves either side. Part of the reason we kept a partial wall was to make the space more usable. I can’t envision how the fully open plan room will be able to meet all our needs, but I am open to ideas! I feel that open plan would be more impressive, but potentially less usable. With regards to the doors. I do plan to reverse the doors both into the kitchen and family room part, but couldn’t work out how to do it on the app I used for the floor plan. It is a 1920s house and we have the original doors which we are planning to keep. We are also keeping a lot of floor space as when the table is not extended, we still have young children with lots of Lego and trains etc. I plan for these to be hidden in the cupboards at bedtime. J - we haven’t installed the kitchen but we have ordered it and paid a big deposit. Some of the units are bespoke/irregular sizes and I don’t think we would be willing to change this. I have attached a photo of our rendered kitchen plan. Thanks again for your comments. It is good to have other people’s opinions and ideas.

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply. I thought I might use the additional living room space as a play area and could perhaps get a screen if I wanted to hide toys away when not in use and could add an armchair/chaise by fire in dining room. Need to zone but haven't had such q big space to do before so a bit overwhelmed with flooring/colour/furniture choices and things it all together, large rugs definitely on the shopping list. Definitely want to get rid of the dark wood on doors and skirting. We are going to put recessed downlights in kitchen and dining room and either two pendants or more downlights in living room. The current dining room light is centered to fit the previous owners table so we can change this. Think I want pendants over new breakfast bar. I like the idea of painting archway darker colour to define areas, funnily enough just saw that in Ideal Home mag yest. Thanks again!