A good beginning would be to replace the walkway up to the house. A new brick walkway or stamped concrete in the same color as the brick on the house will pull all of the elements of the exterior of your home together. I made my walkway 3 feet wide with 2 feet beds on each side of the walkway in stamped concrete. Create the walkway at a distance from the house in an organic natural flowing pattern up to the house with planting beds flowing beside the walkway. Take the brick right up to the from door. Soften the entrance to your home by opening the planting beds up by the house into large organic shapes. That's what I did with my home and it changed it dramatically! It's a lot of work but what a difference!

cool --but you can see the entire floor has been raised--do you have the ceiling height? a closet 'step up' would be less of a structural commitment, OR a buildup under builtin furniture--like bookcases flanking a fireplace, also some great ideas on HOUZZ i'd never have thought of. sorry i'm not tech-ie enough to paste the site:) of course if you go 'structural' --all walls and ceilings are fair game as well. remember that ease of access [or lack thereof] can affect stealth mode greatly--as in your pic: every time you step onto the 'box' in your pic you would hear a 'different' sound.

I am so happy to see you here! I will have to go back and see if i can retrieve my posts... thought I would make them into a little book for my daughter, with photos. Quick run-down on the bathroom (not travels, no time) - The kitchen has a rather elegant sliding door with beveled glass panels. Painted white, since this was the original colour. GD's new bathroom has the doors I had picked earlier; i thought of polishing them but decided sprayed automobile paint (on a resin primer) would wear better. Especially since it is such a small bathroom, and she is so splashy. I have this finish in my kitchen and it has lasted 15 years now. A tad chipped here and there, but only needs a wipe down once a week. Same finish for the balcony doors, also split like the bathroom. We have a new wardrobe, a study table with built-in shelves, and a small chest of drawers for her odds and ends. I want to re-tile the tiny balcony, more as a little statement. Currently we are looking at Portuguese tiles, though I did think a mosaic with a funky cat might be nice. Let me see the costing. The room will be painted a neutral adobe, with bright white woodwork and an off-white ceiling. This means she can go wild with cushions and covers. Other changes in the flat; We have changed the glass in the master bedroom and living room from small cramped panes to a single pane for each section with a 1" bevel all round. Doubles the cost of the glass, but looks so elegant! The air-conditioning is being re-located. The compressors were all mounted in the bedroom and living room balconies, which looked terrible and meant the balconies (very narrow, only 30" deep) couldn't be used for anything. Not even plants. So they are being moved so that the compressors can be mounted at the rear of the building. two down, one to go. Now we can put in some nice plants, fishtail palms etc. The kitchen counter on one side came out intact and will be reused elsewhere. I am planning overhead storage, cupboards, and a draining cupboard for plates and glasses. Right now there is no dish washer, though a place is earmarked, but for now I will put in a cupboard with steel racks for cups, glasses and plates, all hidden behind pressed glass doors. This is all in the planning stage.... Pictures in a little while, they are mostly on my ipad and don't transfer well to the mac. They come without numbers... so I have to rename the or something. Somebody tell me how to do this!

Dont see anything wrong with the design. The quality of space (adequate proportions, natural light and ventilation) is more important than achieving maximum no. of rooms. From my experience the design is good. Only change I would suggest is to have an open kitchen as there is no space for a door. You could make it sliding if it is really necessary.