yvonne, yes i guess we can use it in the dining. The dinining room is small and doesnt have any windows. the kitchen has a lot of natural light that will come across to the dining due to the open kitchen plan. We will be buying new furniture for the dining. We could buy a glass top table with wood chairs / wood table with wood chairs. The room will be painted offwhite similar color as the base of this fabric. All walls will be painted the same color by the builder, Afer taking possession of the house we can repaint it where needed for accent wall etc. Its an appartment, we live in India.

Hi Ni, I just thought of something....did you say you planned to do the stencil motifs on the window wall? If so, I am thinking they will be mostly hidden by the curtains. I wonder if it might be better to stencil the long wall that is on the right side of the room when looking toward the window. I could see this being a pretty backdrop to the prayer box (I think that’s what you called it?) and your wood cuttings. Then maybe the opposite wall (the one with the kitchen doorway) could hold a large piece of art?

I agree that there is too much going on, however some of the suggestions are costly and in my opinion don't completely take care of the problems. I like the design approach it is fresh and updated. I agree that the chimney cap is out of proportion and just needs a simple band at the top. In order to make the exterior remain timeless over the years, Now Sit Down for a minute, I would make all of the exterior the white color. I know you love red however this will tie the different components of the architecture together more than any thing else. You can still have high gloss red doors and red tile pavers on the ground. It would also be very classy the use white tile in place of the brick look. You could even mix gloss white tiles with matt finish tiles to give an interesting sparkle when you ride by. I like the wrought iron upper railing, but the vertical blocking on the right side looks too heavy. So I would continue the same railing around the corner and back toward the house until it connects to the other balcony railing. This also ties the house together. It would look much more classic to not have a grid in the tall window and instead have a solid piece of glass down to the transom and then from there down be solid glass as well. Glass block in the courtyard column sections with back lights would look unbelievable. I would arch the closed in section on the second level as it would show up more there than the window being arched does, so save the money and don't arch that window. I would either hang a long contemporary light on the right elevation to dress it up or insert a long strip of glass block lighted from the interior to achieve the same effect. I charge for renderings, because I list the materials as well. Best, Leo Dowell Interiors.com

Hi drmdilip -- While I waited for my trumpet vines to fill in sufficiently to provide summer shade, I sewed three matching striped shower curtains together, using the button holes on each end to tie it in place. I did this because as the vine was growing new, each thin runner would drop between the rafters rather than grow straight across. After a few years now, those thin runners have become a massed layer of thick vines, all of the new growth is straight up and by the end of summer I'll be able to easily remove my temporary support and have a roof of vines. It's not rainproof though -- for that, polycarb is practical, and I love the copper above!