I like your plan, I would put an external door on the utility instead. and ideally get the boiler in there if you can. (boiler there more important than door- if its a choice) block up external door to office (not needed) put a cloak room under stairs and use the doorway space - access cloak room from under stairs. Just need to know where your external soil pipe is to confirm. i can recommend an architectural technician. (although you could probably sketch it yourself) he also does B.regs / project management as well, if required re the construction, over hand block build the party wall side. brick and block the rest, you will need a steel over the bifold if wider than 3.6m. cheaper option is to have larger french doors with fixed glazing either side, (then you may not need the steel.) you will need one for the internal partition. so delivering two easy as one i may be able to supply the easi joists and 18mm osb for the roof (bit of a small job) get your services (lights) up in there easily . 5m easy to span try and get a warm roof if poss. (insulation on top and then ur choice of roof covering) check heights when designing and submitting plans) cold roofs are a pain. good luck , happy to help Chris

I think your ideas are spot on for the space. There is a bit of empty space, but you can sort that by tweaking your plan just a little. In the dining area, you could try moving the table further from the kitchen and putting a freestanding island in between, to give you more food prep space. Or, if it's more storage you need, you could add a sideboard where the wall cabinets are, to store dishes, glasses, drinks etc. another possibility is to go for a large round table rather than rectangular. This would fill the space nicely. In the living area, I think you have space for a corner sofa rather than the two seater you have shown, with the sofa and the armchair forming a u shape. The use of a rug to zone the space is perfect. Maybe add a narrow console table behind the sofa? Also, remember that, once you have placed all your large furniture in the room for real, it will be easier to think of little extras to add, like lamps, end tables, plants, etc. That's the fun part! And by accessorising with art, cushions, throws, and all your personal belongings, the space won't feel empty at all. Congrats on a lovely apartment and good luck with it!

I think curtains similar to the previous owner would work if you keep the colour or background colour close to the wall colour. It's hard to find pictures of a bay with a lowered ceiling without shutters etc but you could also have a pelmet and curtains on the main wall outside the bay or have curtains on the main wall maybe with romans on the window. If you take the curtains higher than the bay ceiling it will make the windows appear visually taller. There are lots of rooms with the coffee table much further away however as you actually want to use the tables for tea etc you may want to keep the 45cm gap but have wider coffee tables. My table is 44cm away (to be precise!) and I couldn't reach much past that comfortably TBH. I would try it! I've just attached 2 pics showing the sofas overlapping the chimney breast and not to see what you think. The chairs in the bay will be fine if the main seating area is zoned with a rug. I've seen your other posts re David Linley, his silhouette chair is rather lovely!

hi Kat by the time you waiting for a planning and finalised drawings and you saying you sent your documents for planning its a right time to get estimate by the planning drawings till they turn up with a tender spec. if you have clear idea about what would you like to have maybe its better to skip the tender spec and make your own decisions as a guide for a builder to price. compare to a size of your project you can assume flexibility from a builder for certain changes during a time of a built. if you have existing bathrooms for example which were stay as its is with no layout changes (studwall movements) its a right time to start to rip them off and start to 1st fix them up also as you would have underfloor heating (not to sure if its piped system) builder can start to expose floors and insulate them through and make all pipework/electrics ready for a next phase which would be your loft and extension. if you issued your planning and you have structure engineer drawings on place too its a time think ahead if you need any party wall agreement on place you would need to start to work on it as it can slow the process of a build (or just propose it for your neighbours involced). other things as like find out main water pressure and main water upgrade is a right way too to start with as with that amount of upgrades old pipework might don't have enough pressure so good to submit applications for water authorities as nowadays it can takes up to 8-10 weeks too to have a main connection to be done.