Just a quick note to thank you all for sharing your thought, ideas, experience and time. I especially want to thank Bluenan and decoenthusiaste for being with me through the all process for the last 6 months or so..., just wanted to post few photos of the results (https://www.houzz.com/discussions/any-ideas-for-final-touches-to-this-living-dinning-room-dsvw-vd~569586) as I feel it is not only me who created this space but it is your creations as much as mine. It may not be perfect or according to the the "Rules", but it is Me and my family. Each and every piece was chosen by me in different parts of the world and each one of them has a unique story behind. I am very pleased with my space. I love it! I am very blessed. .... and so I am off to my new project now... Back to school.... that's really going to be hard ;) Thank you all, once again.

How will you pose for your Miss Photogenic photo op? Will you go with the Carmen Miranda fruit bowl tiara? Or would the Easter egg thingamadooeys suffice? Decisions, decisions..... Maybe Grover could photo shop each one with your dress so we can decide? We wouldn't want to break any decorating rules because we do have our reputations to uphold. LOLOLOLOLOL

Hi, you have a lovely home! I read through your thread, and I like Dar Eckarts suggestion above the best. I think because of the symmetry of it as an H shaped house is symmetrical, and it would also keep the space looking decorated but still open and uncluttered which is what an entrance should be. Sorry, but I don't care for the bookcase idea in an entrance. I also noticed the masks you have, and think it would be great to decorate the space using them as inspiration. Here is a photo to show you the kind of rug I think would work here.

Kitchen cabinets will look fantastic painted. The thing to consider when thinking about worktops is the work black granite creates - they show every little watermark, so need a lot of polishing. I discovered this when doing lots of experiments on granite samples! Other thing to bear in mind is granite is porous, so you have to be careful about staining the lighter coloured worktops and granite requires resealing after a few years. Because I'm quite lazy and didn't want any maintenance, plus we are a messy family, I went with Compac Quartz in white mirror, it's practically bomb proof and I haven't managed to stain it yet (3 years on). Comes in tons of colours.