I agree with Jonathan that removing the chimney breast would significantly increase your options for the room. I would go one step further and look into removing the small wall which separates the kitchen and dining room; I have attached a very crude annotation to your sketch to show how this would look. I personally wouldn't go for French doors if the current back door is retained. A typical worktop height is 90cm so you could place units (a sink?) in front of the window and have a small 20cm drop to the windowsill (ideal for growing herbs). If you don't want units in front you could build a window seat (approx. 50 cm high) with storage underneath. A good estate agent should be able to tell you if your proposals would devalue the property. If I was buying it I would see a larger kitchen/diner and downstairs toilet a plus. Your current layout doesn't give you any dedicated storage but your proposals would. There would be space to store coats in the downstairs WC and, if you place the door in the middle of the room, you could have floor-ceiling 60cm deep storage in the rear hall (shown in red). Garden storage might make more sense but if your bike is very expensive then I can see why you might wish to keep it indoors.

We're with ^Man About The House^ on this one- the windows are too beautiful to cover with shutters. However if you still like the idea of them, www.californiashutters.co.uk are literally 1/3 of the price of normal shutters because you do all the measuring and fitting yourself. We bought 3 sets of large shutters for the price of one local quote! If you don't need privacy, and new curtains will work- A pelmet might be nice. Hang it just under the cornice (see image below), and stop it just shy of the start of the first pane of glass (not actually blocking any glass) almost like what you've done with the curtains. The wallpaper and paint colours are beautiful, and perfect for a North Facing Room. We would recommend a light but warm fabric that will compliment the room's palette. You could add a pale green 'leading edge' on the curtains and/or on the box pelmet if you felt it was going to look too plain. Obviously not this colour, or pattern- but this kind of idea....

I agree. I would get rid of the curtains and pole etc from around the window giving a lighter over all feel and allowing the light to enter. You could put a small roller blind in the recess for privacy if required. I would dress it with a plant connecting to the outside and a few books stacked to draw the eye outwards and give you a feeling of calm when you walk up the stairs. On the wall above the stairs I would go for a large mirror to help bounce the light and views around the space. It will be very impressive I am sure :) Best of luck.

Just got rid of curtains, nets went too - got plantation shutters now - love them. Yes mine is a 10 foot window (north-east facing bedroom). Originally, the (1963) house had big Crittalls single glazed metal edged windows (bought in 1981). I quickly had the windows double glazed. Two years ago, I had a higher spec double glazing fitted. The plantation shutters have been designed to have two single sets of louvres at each end (my window configuration looks like yours) so that you can "get in" to open the windows. For the middle clear section, there are 3 (equal) sets of louvres (one bifold, one single). I chose the classic "up and down" rods for each section of louvres for easy opening/closing. The whole lot is set in a framework that aligns with the INSIDE window ledge. I could swing the louvres back against the wall - but I don't. BTW There is an extra strenthening vertical rod as 10foot is rather wide. Am I missing the windowledge with its ornaments? In a word, no. The room looks more stylish, with cleaner lines. You can still have trad curtains too but am not bothering. Downstairs (the lounge), the (non opening) picture window pane of the front window luckily mirrors the middle section of the bedroom above it. The side window in the lounge (yep more windows) with its 2 opening windows has a 3 pane configuration: a bifold set and a single set. Haven't got shutters in the kitchen - felt it would have been too much - got roller blinds and roller blinds that fit within the double glazing framework of the double doors. So, right round the house I can adjust the rollers or louvres according to where the sun is.