A thick concrete wall can keep your house cool. Steel will make your house hot unless you insulated the walls well. Insulated walls don't work very well in a flood zone. When they get wet, you need to tear them apart. You will need concrete for the foundation most likely unless you are driving steel pylons. There is probably a combination of the two that will suit your needs best. It would be helpful to know what you want to achieve by using steel. There are advantages to both. Steel floors can be cantilevered further. It is easier to make bigger window openings. Floor and roof spans can be lighter and quicker to build with steel, but the roof will get hotter and therefore need good insulation and need to be well ventilated. These are just general assumptions of certain building practices so that you know what to ask people where you live. The practices and resources vary from place to place and building something for a specific purpose can change the benefits of one material or the other. My best guess is that you will probably want to use both.

HI RinaI do agree I love jewelbox rooms, but I consider them more cosy ... and with a grey marble floor it goes all Versace Italianate! I am trying to balance the colours by bringing in a pattern on the covers rather than plain. I feel this will bring colour without overpowering the room. In the pictures I showed above, the rooms are basically neutral but the colour is brought in via pattern - I think this might be the way to go...Ideally a green or blue on a subdued grey would be the best, but I dont know what the market is like for Sumit...Cushions can do a lot to tie in the other white/grey elements.Shelley - navy is a good suggestion, but as Sumits area is quite tall and thin, trying to keep the general area light Any more suggestions most welcome. These are just ideas after all and Sumit will choose what works for the room in the end ;-)

First of all, I don't think that furniture is comfortable enough to sit and watch TV, so the TV should be remove from that room, the purple wall paper and the purple furniture is too much, you should consider another color for that wall and the furniture against the wall it doesn't look good. What is that room at the end is kind of dark and I cannot appreciate exactly what is the purpose of that room. I'm a firm believer in skylights, we have skylights in the laundry room, kitchen, living room and office, they make a big difference. (if you cannot have skylights (or tube lights) can lights are a great option. There are a lot of great ideas from everyone. I can't wait to see the after photos.

11' across x 14' can be a decent conversation zone. You have a nice window without too many privacy issues - good natural light, nice view of tropical foliage. The higher ceilings seem to be one of the things that will help the room feel larger - here's a completely different approach for you to consider . . I would instead make the beam a feature - wrap it in stained wood boards (that match or just a 1/2 tone darker than your entry doors) to make it seem a real beam - the small beam that comes out to meet it might be painted black and some faux black bolt heads and plates applied to get it to feel more rustic industrial / loft - afraid a fake ceiling is going to look cheap. The wood and black above will work with the off white walls. Consider instead of texturally painting the tv wall - let the "canvas" of all the walls stay uniform if you want this to feel large. The back wall is not the best for television anyway, if you want the room to feel large - the wall to the left of the door - (no window there, eh?) is the right place for a large flat screen wall mounted sort of center in the room (that appears to be the non-operable side of the double entry, typically unused) . Do a narrow console table underneath with drawers and lower shelves for the cable box. That can also be your laydown space and the rest of the room starts to live larger. I would run a large sectional in the beam recess area with the short end coming back just to become a lounge under the window (hang a stained board on angle brackets as a custom sofa shelf on the wall in the recessed end to fill it and provide a place for drinks) - the "beam" will make seating feel sort of sheltered there. It will work together . .you have a good long run nearly 8' there. If you want the room to feel big, a long sofa with a turn so many can gather for conversation is the best approach. Split the power for the television into two (easy 1 hour of electrician), patch this wall and hang wall mounted black iron sconces above the sofa back at two locations designed for the length of your sofa. Use a round iron and wood table at the sectional and a pair of great, small scale modern chairs facing the window set on the opposite wall. Consider a large scale modern abstract over the back of the sofa, and a gallery of black and white graphic photos framed in natural wood with black mats around the television on the tv wall. To the left of the window, hang some black iron hooks on a wall mounted wood board. With the wood, white and black iron, select your accent color carefully - neutrals for the main pieces - maybe some saddle leather for the chair pair. Color only in art - play off the green and white outside