Thank you One Plan and Scott for your help. Yes on the drawings they have added some up lighters on the wall, it is something I like the idea of but wanted to see what others thought. I like the idea of lights built into the floor. Do you have any pictures of this at all? My concern would be objects getting in the way but as I am planning on having my sofas off the wall hopefully nothing should get in the way. What type of light would you suggest for this? Possibly a spot? We have also talked about having spots in the ceiling for when I need a lot of light in the room. Would you go with this too? Yes the LED strip sounds good too!! I really like the idea of the spots on the floor, the LED's and I thought the third could be lamps which would be on side table next to my sofa's. Then the spots would be there just for when I need a lot of light, e.g. cleaning, etc. As you can see in the drawing the next area along from the octagon has a curved ceiling. We thought it might be nice to put LED's here which would enhance the curve but I also this will be where my dining table would be so I thought a pendant or chandelier would be nice? Do you think these would compliment each other? Scott I would love to see a picture of the candelabra you mentioned. As you can probably tell I am struggling a bit with having almost three rooms in one. I want everything to flow and compliment each other nicely. Thank you both for your help! I really appreciate it! Thanks, H

Not sure if you have now sorted out your garden lighting yet I've only just come across your question! But if you haven't yet then you could definitely do as you have suggested already and have some decking lighting, some examples of such you can find here as there are also many decking light kits to choose from. http://www.thebulbco.com/outdoor-led-lights/led-ground-lights/led-decking-lights For something different to think about for wall lighting, why not think about getting some in wall brick lights for something a little bit unusual perhaps http://www.thebulbco.com/outdoor-led-lights/led-ground-lights/outdoor-brick-lights Hope this helps a little but would be good to see some of your finished photos once you have them to hand to see what you decided on!

Thank you Carolina and Minnie. I'm still surprised people are so helpful on these forums- really grateful for everyone's advice! I'm no expert at design for sure - if it's xray guided surgery no problems haha. Carolina I'm glad you think the steps can look OK. I'm beginning to think maybe it might not look so odd. The kitchen design is just whatever the architect put together himself for the plans, but I'm yet to consider how to actually lay it out. Any advice? The idea for the 'utility' is that there will be long closet / cupboards from wall to ceiling with the washer and dryer hidden by those. I know it's called utility but in reality itll just be an extension to the massive hallway in order to get access to the kitchen and downstairs loo. Storing the washer and dryer there was a thought to utilise the remainder of that space. The reason it has to have a door is because the architect says new fire safety rules stipulate there has to be a fire door to a kitchen to prevent fire from spreading to the main house. Otherwise I would have just not kept that door at all and kept a big hallway. Although the hall is disproportionate, with the high ceilings, it is what we really liked about the property and gave a really nice airy feeling to the place. Minnie thank you for that link. What a stunning conservatory they've built. With regards to having one set of steps- I was thinking the same at one point - that maybe I could just keep one set of steps from the 'utility' down - and swap the kitchen and dining space. The only thing that I don't like about that idea is that I wanted there to be a free flow of space to go from the living room down into the extension too. But I guess you can't have everything in life and maybe having a bannister like they have in the link you've sent, would allow for that airy feeling and continuity of light. Should people need to go from the living room down into the kitchen they'd have to go through the 'utility'....

Hello, HU, how interesting. The pictures really help. May I ask why the floor is so high? Do you have a cellar? or are you on a hill ? Is the garden flat or on a slope? You can ask you neighbours what is underneath? If it is that high you may loose a bit of garden.... Looking at your photo is your kitchen floor lower than the room next door ? If yes lower the floor for sure. It will lessen the gradient of possible steps. But it might be piping underneath just looking at the two pipes on the back ??? But if the wall is going to disappear it will not be an issue as the builders can divert them. But seeing what the neighbours have done I would say if you can afford it a glass box type extension. So that will allow a lot of light into the house and would not feel imposing. Garden storage, bikes etc could be underneath. If you choose to put your patio first then that is slightly lower than the extension. Or the same height then the steps or a slow sloping path will take away the idea of the steps. Have a look at terraced garden pictures, as you can plant to give the look of flattening the height so it looks like you are to create a garden journey. Your patio does not have to cover the whole width of the extension, it could be a semi-circle or an arc with the rest of the ares at that same height with plants and steps that gradually go down and around to flow into the garden. Any steps can be softened by using wood, sleepers... add plant pots to them to create the garden. Soften you garden with curves. If you have kids or not what an amazing height to make a built in slide ! I hope this helps at least start to conversation. But have fun designing.