A7. Bon Après midi Chloe, I have just recently returned from Southern France and have fallen in love with French rural design, I'm an avid fan of dinning tables for both family and friends to eat and be sociable, if your room is an open kitchen/dinner then embrace the room as one rather than trying to separate them. as for shapes, sizes, and materials clear the intended space mark off the options using either newspaper or masking tape leaving room to walk around don't forget where the chairs will be, this will help you decide how big or small the table can be and how it will fit around your existing furniture as for materials you cant go wrong with a sturdy wooden table with linin and a centre piece. all the best to everyone with their projects and thank you for your questions, until next time Adieu,

Hi. The kitchen looks a very different colour online! I'm assuming you don't want much contrast with the units based on the colour pics? You're going to need a warm grey but it may take some time to find the right one :( I would start with farrow and ball skimming stone (pic shows it in a north facing room), slipper satin and ammonite. I think you can afford to go darker on that dining wall, have you considered a textured wallpaper, faux grasscloth etc? Based on your first pic you like neutrals mixed with lots of texture so you could go for greige sofa (maybe a shade or 2 lighter than walls/kitchen) and then add your colour plus different shades of the greige from really light to fairly dark with different textures for cushions, throw and accessories. Alternatively you could go for a blush pink or duck egg sofa. Plants, herbs, flowers will lift the room. Perhaps add a really large mirror where the sofas are to make it feel wider and bounce light.

Hi Kat/ Ellie, thanks for your comments. Ellie, yes, current kitchen in both the original kitchen area and the attached dining/ utility. We used to have a small table in there but now have a big one in the new extension. Extension is the main daytime living space but we use the existing living room on an evening. The low shelf above the radiator is to try and incorporate a small breakfast area and plan is to extend into the utility end and have a couple of stools there. I can try leave out the wall units in the utility end. Kat, yes, happy to play around with both areas, just have washer and sink etc plumbed in already so would prob try and keep them where they are. I’ll attached a couple of existing pics. Thanks again.

Your architect should be able to help with furniture placement, and mock that on the plans for you. You should discuss all your doubts with the architect! Here's an idea: The space is not quite right for a living/dining. There is a lot of wasted space outside the utility. Your architect may be able to tweak the plans to make better use of the space, for e.g.: I understand having access to the bathroom makes sense for you now, but by the time the renos are done, will your kids still need help in the bathroom? This is not a practical solution long term. I'd consider putting the entrance to the bathroom from the "store" if possible: