I am guessing that you want some kind of separation between dining room and kitchen? You want to keep steam and any oil in the air, from cooking, out of the dining room, stopping it at the ceiling with a wall but keeping the dining room open so the light from the large kitchen window can filter into the dining space? If I am right, the shape of an arch would best match the architecture of your house or of these rooms. An arch is an architectural element as well as a design element. It is possible though that an arch will be totally out of place in your space when a cleaned lined separation would look very nice. Hard to tell. Can you post a picture or give some verbal detail about the style of your spaces?

Your best bet is to have a residential structural engineer do a site visit and a soil test. As the home is only 10 years old, it is normal to have some settlement and additional settlement after 10 years should be minor. The fact you are concerned of future settlement should be a red flag. Additionally, you are concerned about moisture. Two red flags. It is your choice, but buyer beware. Best of luck.

I think I am certainly quite late to reply on this post but nevertheless will put my suggestions here. Go for 2 loveseats in a light/neutral colour against the 7 ft and 15 ft wall. Opposite the 15 ft wall you could put a nice upholstered bench in contrast/printed fabric. Also for a warm glow put a nice standing lamp in the corner between both sofas. You can place a nice mirror on the TV wall and put a nice shelf beneath it and place a lamp there with few knick knacks if the door opens outside in the balcony or is sliding. Also, keep two upholstered ottomans below the mirror which can be pulled for extra seating when required. Place a low height coffee table small one like a 2x2 ft.

Hi, From your Question, I understand that you are looking to integrate a built-in DW and MW in an existing modular kitchen in your home or a new one you have ordered from a kitchen cabinet manufacturer. In either case, your first phone call should be to your kitchen supplier who fitted / will be fitting the kitchen cabinets. Here's WHY? The kitchen cabinet supplier will confirm the size of appliance required as per the kitchen design. They must have made suitable provisions in the cabinets to accommodate these equipments inside cabinets. The cabinets for DW and MW are different from the rest, since the DW sits directly on the floor while MW needs an escape vent at the back for hot air. 2. You need to confirm whether there exists 15 amp power points at appropriate places for each equipment. 3. For built-in DW, a water inlet and outlet at correct positions are required. The kitchen vendor and/or the built-in DW supplier will visit your home and do PDI to mark the exact location of electrical / plumbing points. It will be useful if the kitchen vendor and plumber / electrician are at hand during this PDI, so as to check and discuss relevant issues on the spot and give their confirmations ( or alternatives ) and close this essential issue to the satisfaction of all concerned. Usually, the actual spot is marked on the wall itself and a line drawing showing kitchen cabinets with exact electrical / plumbing positions marked clearly on it, are shared with relevant agencies to eliminate mistakes, if any. Any corrections reg electrical / plumbing will be expensive and time consuming once the cabinet and countertops are fitted. The appliances are typically installed at the end of the project, when all other works are done and almost all agencies ( read workers ) engaged in the premises have left. So, any mismatch between the initial discussion and actual execution comes to light too late in the day !! To avoid this scenario, ask the built-in equipment supplier to visit once more and verify if their requirements are met. Oftentimes, appliance cos. take refuge in such 'non-compliant' provisions and avoid delivering on committed guarantee / warranty, in case of issues at a later date. It's better to go through this cycle once initially, and get everything right in one go. It is also worth noting here that the positions of electrical / plumbing points vary with brands and models, so once you freeze the brand and model, it is advisable not to change the decision thereafter. However, if your kitchen cabinet maker is a pro and experienced, you may just leave it to him and sit back. A good company / professional will take care of all this. Most of the points mentioned above come with a steep learning curve and are not in any book. They don't teach this in any professional design / architecture course. Once all above is sorted....just check out prominent brands in your city / region. Some names that have stood the test of time are SIEMENS / HAFELE / KAFF / ELICA. All of them have a reasonably good service set up which will get top 'selection criteria' in my book. Also, most of them have enough machines out in the field and that means they are likely to have common spares etc with them, when needed down the years. It is a good idea to buy appliances from a single brand as that saves you the trouble of calling different companies for each appliance. Regarding specific model selection....most machines have all the basic features that are commonly used. A MW may have 58 ( so to speak ) pre settings that you may never use unless you are a Chef. Ask your wife and/or leave this to the family member who will spend most time in kitchen. MW with grill / convection features is a good choice and all above brands have them. Hope this answers your Question, and apologize for a loooong reply. But it's better to know relevant issues and decide. Thanks and good luck :)