Just a suggestion.. but I have a similar spot in my kitchen and installed a Pulley maid. It has a practical use, as in the winter we use it for drying clothes and sheets. In the summer months, it looks much prettier as we hang all of our herbs from it, to dry them too. Heres a pic to give you an idea...

Me again! Can we also have a reader's how to section. Such as a designer showing in pictures how to stage a sideboard with bijouterie depending on style, or how to style a bedroom with accents, or even articles on how to achieve X,Y,Z on a budget (I'm sure Houzzer's will have an idea - maybe this could be a section in itself?) Articles on colour or pattern matching etc would appeal vastly methinks. Even simple things that can easily be found on an internet search such as how to prep bannisters for painting would give a more magazine feel. Also a regional links page for cateogries. These could accompany articles. For eg. an article on prepping with images and step by step along with a list of Houzz recommended companies regionally who could undertake the work or fix a botched job! Topics I would be interested in include: How to add value to your home, how to maximise light, how to achieve a professional finish decorating; interior design ideas; how to change the facade of a property; flowers for the garen, door way, flowers for shaded areas, climbers for shaded areas, scented plants, how to ensure colour in the garden all year round etc. Decorating/furnishing ideas to create optical illusions to create size/light etc. Thanks for asking. I love this site and literlly spend hours getting lost on it with a cup of coffee :-)

You can probably get away with any colour if they're old brick which I suspect they are? If it's really modern red brick, then shades of blue, grey, white, green would work. In terms of painting it grey do you know which way the room faces and how much light it gets? If it has little light there are still a few paler greys that would work. The curtains are very dark so that doesn't help. If you're seeing clients I would probably go for a pale grey ( I don't know what type of clients they are but am assuming a calm, light environment is needed?!) Do you have any existing furniture to put in the room? I only ask as there are thousands of paint colours so it's normally easier to pick wall colour after the sofa etc.

Hello Rachele, The way to look at this is how you live.. Then look at the space.. I do think it's lovely to have kitchen that goes out onto the garden... If the space is large enough it could be possibly to have a multi functioning space... Kitchen dining and entertaining all in one with the additional element of enjoying the space as a whole.. One way might be to have a long galley run with an island that morphs into a dining space.. Or extend the exterior doors to a full run, so that you can have one large room with cooking dining on one side and living on the other.. Other ways to integrate many functions under 1 space would be to look at levels... A sunken seating area or a raised dining platform.. So many ways to deal with the idea of a space that has many uses.. Think of how you do things.. Do you want to have a cooking element on an island so you can face the garden and your guests? Do you want a sleek line with sliding doors that hides the kitchen.. Think of what you might want to show off.. this might then help you define the space. : )) Here's a smaller version of a kitchen and outside area... It's to show you that you may be able to look at smaller spaces and create ways to make them work for you.. Then there may be ways to bring the outside in... Look at this one for ideas as to how to merge the space together... that is perhaps more than just a sliding door and a dining table.. Of course this can depend on where you are but I like to suggest things that get the creativity going and might spark an idea! : ))