So funny! I'm planning to paint the bannister at the new house (TNH) black and am veering towards painting the treads and risers black too... I've been searching for images of black staircases on Houzz and putting them in my entrance hall ideabook. They are few and far between. In your case, I think, with your white walls, maybe the stairs white and the bannister black? (Assuming the white walls continue up the stair walls enabling the b/w contrast.) You've already put black firmly into the equation, adding some more may give more reason for the black rad cab. In my case, there is a very off-centre radiator that could so very easily have been directly opposite the front door in TNH which is rather annoying as it stuffs up the focal point. We are leaving here with every radiator covered with a cabinet - and going to TNH that has loads of radiators ...but no cabinets! Yes, the work ahead is daunting - especially since the area of Ireland we're going to is very basic and not full of DIY resources, etc. I keep thinking I'll paint TNH white - to make things simpler(!) But try as I may colour keeps wandering through my mind! Lovely to be in touch again!

I'm building a new house and I've specified some Smart Home technologies - mostly for the lighting and blinds, which together can help give that lived-in look when nobody is home. I chose industry-standard technologies (DALI and KNX) so that nothing is tied to one manufacturer (who could go out of business or decide to stop making / supporting something) and there's no single central 'brain' which would cause chaos if it fails. I agree completely on the 'open technology' point - it's nice to have an app on your phone but it's not nice to have 10 separate apps because you bought things from 10 different companies, so you want everything controllable from one place and you want the labour-saving automation of one system talking directly to another (e.g. "I've just set the intruder alarm, so nobody's home, so turn down the ventilation system"). I'd also say it's worth making a judgment on where technology is changing most and not to invest a lot in something that's likely to become out of date quickly. For example, you can pay a lot of money for fancy KNX light switches but a cheap tablet will be more flexible, and voice control with Siri and Alexa is close to being mainstream.

I would focus on window treatments, the lounge in particular looks rather bare. Maybe full length simple curtains in a pale or accent color on a ceiling track, or good quality blinds (I can't see the current ones clearly) recessed into the window space so it doesn't flap around. Next, you need to create a gathering space in the lounge around your coffee table, perhaps rotate the sofa 90 degrees to face window, put chair opposite and a tv in the corner, and then at the back of the sofa use your wooden unit as a low table for storage and decor. Then you could fit a dining table between that space and the door. Get a large natural rug to put under the dining space to protect the carpet. You already have a lot of high level lighting so some table lamps on side tables could add an interesting mix. Cream, green, grey colors. Plus with some metallic silver Http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/textiles-rugs/rugs/birket-rug-high-pile-yellow-grey-art-10322062/ http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/textiles-rugs/rugs/large-medium-rugs/ http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/lighting/work-lamps/barometer-work-lamp-nickel-plated-art-10089582/

Assuming the cat isn’t scratching or meowing behind the closed door, you could- A: Put a bell on the door with a piece of string attached - cats love string and they will ring the bell, getting your attention to open the door. B: the same as option 1 but with rope on your side to open the door from wherever you are in the room. Add an automatic door closer. C: if flooring allows, created a tunnel to go under the door. D: a pulley and an open window