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!

Seems weird not to incorporate it into the design -- I'm all about having things "look intentional" rather than working around them later. Like could the island have connected to this, rather than extending past it? or been L-shaped, so there's room for an extra stool, and also a wall cabinet? Anyway, hard to discuss that in the abstract without kitchen plans. I'm with miacometlady's original advice to not worry about it right now, and decide how to deal with it once the bulk of your kitchen is in place. You might find that you hardly notice it, with all the beautiful new finishes, or it might seem obvious to put some stainless or glass shelves there, or maybe simple is best and one simple hanging picture does the job. Don't stress about it until After. :)

First, I would ask the builder to give you the dimensions of the furniture used in the plan. Since they've already done the legwork-you will know which pieces will fit. Many times folks go the the furniture store and end up with a huge sectional and it over powers the room. Second, just get what you love! You have to live there. Start to create an idea book in Houzz. You'll start to see a pattern. Then just find a sofa like the one in your pic that is in your price range. Just keep repeating until you have all your pieces. Same thing with wall decor (which I would do last). Have fun!

@Studio Chippan, Thank you, for your response and the reference pictures. It offered me helpful insights. I agree with you regarding the 3rd-photo. This illustrates that 3 paint colours in my living-room will not work (even if 2 of them are white!). This also means that I can no longer go with 8300/Confetti as my choice of white for walls (as much as I like it, it will dull/dim my rooms if I paint that on my ceilings as well, especially my north-facing rooms). So now, I need to find 1 single-white that can go/complement with my 2 adjacent accent walls in 8307/Quicksilver, and that can be used on my ceilings as well (and the walls and ceilings of all the other rooms). Any suggestions? So far I have sampled the following Asian/royal white(ish) shades (I’ve added my take on them beside it, but it is only my own perception of these shades): 1) Base White (the one without any tint): boring, clinical, too bright a white for walls 2) 8300 /Confetti: not too cold, not too warm, my favorite white among the ones sampled, but too dull for the ceiling 3) L104/Cotton Wool: seems to have a slight-pink-undertone(?) on my walls, too bright a white for walls 4) L109/Icy Peak: boring, slight-green-undertone(?), but might work for my walls+ceilings requirement 5) 8332/Snowflake: this is a very nice grey, but I am looking for a white (for walls+ceilings) 6) 8308/Whispering Smoke: this is a very nice grey, but I am looking for a white (for walls+ceilings) 7) 9483/Clear Sky Night: this is a nice grey, but I am looking for a white (for walls+ceilings) 8) 8299/Ice Age: this is a nice grey, but I am looking for a white (for walls+ceilings) 9) 8292/White Gold: this is too warm a white (strong pink/peach undertones!), ruled-out. Why 8307/Quicksilver, and why 2 accent walls (if I may call it that) instead of 1? This particular vertical-line of the fan-colour-deck is the best match with a wallpaper that will be applied on an exposed beam (~L:15’+15’*H:1.5’*D:4”) running along the ceiling on 2 of my living room walls. Shades along this deck-line are: 8308/Whispering-Smoke (one of the whites you suggested above, but too light a grey for accent), 8307/Quicksilver (seems like the right density for me), 0615/Silver Grey (gets too dark for me from here), 0643/Steel Grey, etc… *Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a minimalist; I am merely trying to be one. However, I did not succeed with my living room design; and now I only hope it doesn’t get out of hand and OTT.