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!

Mohammad. I understand your program. You may be lost in the details at the moment. Please do follow and trust the advice given here by all these people. You are about to embark on a reasonably expensive journey. Get professional help with someone who you can sit down at a table and brainstorm with them your ideas and intentions. There are Architects and there are professional building designers who are members of the American Institute of Building Design (AIBD) who are well versed in projects such as yours. I personally love a design challenge. After 38 years designing homes and special use buildings I enjoy this type of challenge the most. I am in Ohio and may not be close to where you are but I am sure with a little investigation you will find the best design professional for you.

coming to the dining area..yes id say you remove the seating entirely and concentrate on a foyer area since you already have space for a drawing room on the floor.. id suggest erecting a glass and marble wall in line with the wall that runs between the pooja room and the bedroom..say a bit of marble-glass-marble-glass-marble.in this case you have a small foyer area demarcated by this wall feature.you can deck it up by placing a nice console table in front of the central marble wall with a nice mirror to reflect the space and make it look larger or a sculpture with beautiful bracket lights on either side to accentuate the same.and on the backside of this wall you could have a crockery unit with a huge painting or a cluster of family snaps above it. if you could brief me a little on the look you're adapting for your house i could suggest some more treatments for the walls.if you want to avoid using too much marble you could also opt for a marble wood and glass look where you could take out some concealed storage for shoes etc. regarding the drawing room - what about a huge 4 seater in the center instead of 2 - two seaters with a table in the middle as in the plan..if you remove the central coffee table maybe you could replace the single seater with a chaise for 2 and also replace the 2 center tables with a nice long table in the center with an area rug running below it..if you could help me with the room dimensions maybe we could add 2 pouffes in front of the 4 seater so it creates more seating and doesnt obstruct the view if you plan to put a TV on the wall. what look do you have in mind for your terrace garden ? something zen or a little rustic toeing on the lines of the contemporary ? sorry for the late reply as i was travelling.. hope this helps! :)

Hi Princey, Windows bring in ample light and provide ventilation to a room and at the same time bring the outsides visually in. Hence, it is necessary to determine their not only their size but also their location in a room. Deciding the lintel and sill level of the windows may depend on the overall look of the building or a home as they alter the elevation to a great extent. A standard 3' sill and 7' lintel gives you a 4' height to work with. You may then increase or decrease its width to your requirement. Anything between 4'-6' is a good window width. If possible you may decrease the sill level to 2' to increase the window size where you want. Avoid doing this where the bed would be as its headboard will cover a large part of the window. Alternatively you may go for french windows/doors for living rooms. As far as the design of the window is concerned, it largely depends on the functionality. Accordingly, the windows may be side hung, sliding, louvered, top hung, fixed etc. These days mostly we go for sliding or side hung ones. How they look will depend a lot on their mechanism. However, their style may be changed as per the aesthetics of the room and overall building elevation. Here are some examples - These go well with classic, colonial and Indian styles. These go well with minimalist, modern and contemporary styles. Bay windows create an interesting corner in you living and bedroom and bring in ample light for the same size of opening due to their angular windows. The wall behind the bed may have a window like this, its fixed glass that filters in light and accommodates the bed as well. French doors and windows are a great option for both bedroom and living areas if you have the privilege of a balcony. The living room may have small or large windows depending on the area at our disposal as well as the floor where we reside. Ground floor with ample greenery around calls for large picture windows. But if there is no particularly pleasant view we may go for regular or even slit windows to solve our purpose. All these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to discussing windows. It is highly recommended to consult with your architect while deciding on the requirement, size, placement, design, material and aesthetics of the windows in your home. All the best! Regards, RnD Atelier Nagpur