One possibility would be to swap the living room and the dining room. Since the current living room is larger than the current dining room you could still keep some comfortable seating (couch and upholstered chairs?) against the front wall for a keeping room/dining concept. Then your new dining areas (kitchen and dining room) and living areas (living and drawing room) would have good flow between them, which would work well both for family and entertaining. You could also add some builtin bookshelves in the drawing room or new living room to create a library area to add another fun element to the living areas. These bookshelves could be against the long walls in the drawing room, around the window with a window seat in the living room (former dining room), or built to create some separation in the open area between the drawing room and living room/stair area. Your plan seems to show some sort of builtin there, but I'm not sure what it is.

Sophie, Patricia you are right cleaning the crystals would be a hell of a job. Hence I would like to look at designs like the other pic I attached which is I believe from the e.ion range of Falmec. As I have mentioned before this is a second chimney. The primary chimney hood is above my gas job in the kitchen countertop and is the main and daily area for cooking. This is the secondary area which I plan to use for some quick heating, occasional stir fry etc. The pendant chimneys that I have come across in brands like Elica and Falmec do not require ducting. The filter needs to be changed every 6 months or more. With my kind of usage I am assuming I would need to change it even later. What I am looking for is different brands which have pendant chimneys. Right now I am only aware of Elica and Falmec. I know Siemens and Bosch don't have it. Siemens has 2 models which are like a flat rectangular panel to be attached to the ceiling or false ceiling. But the cost is same as the Falmec chimney. My only respite may be the cylindrical Isola chimney models from Faber or even Hafele which are ip within budget.

hi karen! do you have any photos of the dining and living room? would love to help, but photos might aid in an accurate suggestion

Hi Neha, The floor plan is indeed a bit odd. I would suggest to have a living area on the left hand side of entry with TV unit on the left wall adjacent to entry. You can plan a Swing sofa on left of entry. In the niche near bedroom you can plan some decorative corner, some cabinets or cabinets with a memory corner with lots of family photographs. I would have suggested a Pooja corner but the wall is with the toilet on the other side so that wouldn't be suitable. On the right on entry plan dining area. On the wall shared with kitchen you can have a little window in the dinning. It would act as a good place for a little serving table. If you're into carpets then place a big carpet between entry and the balcony. And decorate the balcony beautifully so that on entering the home you will be greeted with a beautiful balcony view. You can also use some indoor plants on the inside of balcony door. If you need any more help you can contact me directly. Happy Decorating! Garima Arora