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.

Formal living rooms are rarely used from my experience. I can't tell you how many times I have "re-done" them for clients because after living in a home for a while the home owner realizes that they are wasted space. My advice to you about a formal living area is to leave it undone for 3-4 months and utilize the rest of your new home. See what is missing. Do you need an office, a den? A library? Quiet reading area? An exercise room? A craft room? Or maybe you really do need a formal entertaining area for your multitude of guests that come around every weekend where you entertain very high-brow style. But figure that out first otherwise your investment will be wasted. Part of why you and your husband are drawn to different furnishings is for these reasons: 1) The function of the room is not well established. So he envisions sitting on a big bulky comfy couch watching TV, and you envision sipping tea on a gorgeous ethnically inspired piece of furniture and chatting with your friends. This can only be vetted out with time and understanding how you as a couple will use all of your house. 2) You have different ideas about home design. Your husband is interested in comfort and you are interested in style. You will need to find a happy medium. Instead of saying well his style isn't going to fit with my style, think about how he can have a comfortable piece of furniture in the room that is perhaps tailored enough to go along with some beautifully wood carved, ethnic pieces. And this may actually enhance the look and make it look less "themed". And at the end of the day you may want to consider hiring a designer to help you through the process - often times that can help you weed through the process of balancing out form and function and his wants and your wants in the space. Best of luck!

Manipalgoyal: I like your basic plan. It is well thought out....What does the top floor look like? The only thing that I would do differently from my very "Western" perspective would be to move the rear right bedroom upstairs and open up the back courtyard to the kitchen area. I would create a "great room / kitchen area with doors that open both to the front courtyard and to the back. This allows for good cross ventilation to help keep the house cool and comfortable on a hot day. It also provides easy access to the rear yard area without having to walk through a bedroom. Now all of the precious outdoor space is easy to use. The other element that I would introduce would be an atrium (or an opening in the floor) all the way up to the second floor with openable windows high up on the second floor to allow hot air to escape to the top of the house and out (since hot air rises) This is called the "chimney effect" and is another way to keep the house well ventilated. Of course this is how it has been done in hot climate countries for years, so you might be familiar with this technique already. Even if you don't change it, your floor plan is very nicely laid out. I would be happy to help you answer any additional questions that you might have. I do have a few questions for you: 1. Where is the laundry room? Is it in the storage space? This does seem a little narrow. How wide is it? You might want to work on how this space actually lays out. Is there a sink in this space too? 2. Why do you have such small openings to the outside from the drawing room and the rear bedrooms? Are they doors or windows? Wouldn't you wnat a door with an openable window with a screen adjacent so that you could have ventilation at night without having the door open? 3. How will you lay out the kitchen? Who is doing the cooking in your household? Is cooking a family event or is it done by a helper? You either want a bigger more open kitchen (Western design) or a more private kitchen (Asian design) Or a combination of both.......To me this is the most important part of the house where the family gathers and hangs out..... I would love to hear back from you. Christine Lampert

Keya, glad you decided to take the one reader's idea about moving the armoires in front of windows that you don't need and giving the bed a wall of its own! And, yes, you can have Roman shades on one wall and layered drapes on the other. When I had drapes made for my tall sitting room windows/doors, I had them use the same fabric for the Roman shades for the smaller windows on the other wall. For me personally, in these older Indian homes with all the odd nooks and niches in the walls, perhaps it would be more soothing to have a light/med tone paint on the walls that blends with the drapes/blinds for an 'uninterrupted' look, and I would use the same color on ceiling and beams. (but that is just my thought) I would start the process with a large carpet with your favorite colors, then choose your Bedcover & cushions, then your wall paint and fabric for drapes/blinds ..Not certain what style you like, but if you really like a particular Ethnic bedcover fabric, you can always have them stitched into curtains or Roman shades too. Can't wait to see the "After" pics!