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!

For the living room, the focus should be the balcony area. So flipping the couch to face the wall and not the dining table will help. Kind of like this pic. Even if you already have the sectional that is in the diagram, you should be able to flip it. In fact a sectional would probably work better than the couch in this pic. I also really don't like the style of this pic, but it showed what I meant, For the girls' room: No matter which bedroom you choose, you should maximize floor space so that they have the biggest play space possible in their room (as they get older you can add desks for school work and such). To get this space, I would give them bunk beds. This configuration gives them an open feel and more storage, essential for girls. You posted two different kitchen designs. This makes it hard to give you advice. I agree with other posts that your sink should be away from the wall. This allows you to have stuff to the left of you (drying dishes in my house), while you wash vegetables on the right of the sink. You need the same space on both sides of the stove, also. At least 24 inches on both sides is good. 36 is better, though. The first design has a nice little countertop space that adds a place for your daughters a space to sit a watch/ talk to you while you're in the kitchen. When they added this to the first design, you lost cabinets on the other wall. This is bad, as the space is already storage limited. Try making the rounded countertop bump out into the living space more. If you play with the shape, you could make it work without losing the cabinets on the other side. It doesn't have to be rectangular or a perfect circle. You can see how this one isn't confined to the floor plan of the kitchen. I think this is what you would need to do to make it the most functional.

sararahim123 What constitutes an adequate illumination level varies from person to person. What exactly do you require illuminated? If its simply ambient light you would have tiny lights as shown that throw light on the stairs itself. If a bit more is required you could consider adding a railing with a light under. If general illumination is what you are going after, but in a muted way, would suggest wall scones that throw light upwards onto the ceiling, diffusing the light.

Hi. If you do not want to go with a wardrobe there then you can create a wall shelf in the cavity; something like below. Or, you can fill the cavity with vertical wooden rafters, put some focus lights on the ceiling and place a high wing chair and ottoman in front. It will be a good space next to the window to sit, relax and read. You can also put a circular rug beneath the chair and ottoman; it will look good.