My goodness, that's more like a banqueting hall than a kitchen! Lol. (I'm slightly jealous if u can't tell ) That's a difficult one to decide given the style of the room. I've had ultra modern kitchens in a victorian house before but it didn't have as much character as this room. I think as long as you style it right, and work in perhaps more contemporary colours then a modern kitchen would work. Of course a traditional kitchen would suit it down to the ground so perhaps you could even go for a blend of the two. Agas work well with mixing styles and they come in loads of colours. Having just had a new kitchen myself, I would advise looking at pictures and seeing what takes your fancy. Rather than trying to fit a kitchen into the room, it will give you chance to work out what u really want from it and how you envisage it. A good kitchen company will then be able to help you choose the right one that will work. Re sitting area - you have the space and its a perfect place for seating/chilling room.

Thomas Sanderson make very slim profile blinds that fit into the little recess of the door to the window. They drill the wires into the top and bottom, then the blid folds as they're lifted. Tey take about 1cm of space at the top when fully open. They're easy to push up and down, and everyone comments on how good they look. They let in light but provide privacy. We found shutters made our rooms far too dark. They're not cheap though! We have 9 bifold doors, and each door was around £150. Well worth it though.

I tend to prefer long curtains personally as well but if you think that brushing past them would annoy you then I’d go for short. Roman blinds could be an option as well if they will tuck under the pelmet, I do feel that you’d need a double layer approach with perhaps a roller blind in the window to block out the light tho. You could always ask the curtain maker to include curtain weights in the bottom. This would help to make the fabric hang a lot straighter. Of course this does depend on what type of fabric you choose. A thick woven wool or chenille for example (something you might use for cushions or upholstery) will have a lot more bulk and stick out more. Synthetic materials such as nylon and polyester tend to drape better because of the smooth weave. Here’s some advice on choosing fabrics https://www.themillshop.co.uk/blog/which-is-the-best-fabric-for-curtains A plain simple pelmet would look best I think even if it’s curtains or Roman blinds.

I do like the house Carolina found. I too had come across it during my research and it was one of my favourites. I’m not sure about the wood, however. It looks lovely new, but I suspect won’t weather too well. I 100% agree with ’E D’ - either subtle or extreme changes. When we first moved in we had quotes for a garage conversion... until we parked our car outside, under the tree... the birds use it as target practice so we use the garage. My plan had been to hire internal and external architects such that we had a plan for the whole house that would all tie together, even if we only worked on small components of the project at a time. Then the windows priority and COVID has rather thrown me! I had wanted to hire Back to Front Exteriors, but they are booked until spring, but could offer a couple of hours consultation once we have the internal architecture complete. I have spoken to RESI (online architects), but I get the feeling that to get the most out of them you have to have very formed requirements... something I don’t have. I’m more of a data person than a creative person, so I thought reaching out to the hive-mind collective may help! (If I can’t decide on window type, colour or opening placements it’s what hope is there!!!) Looking at Back to Front Exteriors I like the below from a concept perspective - an extension with a wider base than first floor. It would allow for a long window in the flat roof. The people before us converted the conservatory into a ground floor extension... but it isn’t really working for us; we use it as a dumping ground. I wouldn’t be adverse to sacrificing some of the dining room to make a better kitchen-family area (an island would be a dream, and anything that could make a north facing kitchen brighter would be welcome). Also, if the extension was pushed further along too I wouldn’t mind, as long as the dining room still retained a window. I have to be realistic - I only have a small garden and wouldn’t want a monstrosity extension. All I want is to make the house work better for us. It’s our dream house and we have no intention of moving.