removing the door to kitchen would be easiest & cheapest way to open up & brighten the hall area. Next best, but more costly would be replacing door with one with glass panels. Look for used one in 2nd hand or @ your local Habitat for Humanity store. Keep the one you take off just in case other one gets damaged and needs to be replaced. Replacing only two panels would not achieve much I don't think. A mirror should only be placed where it can reflect something of interest & expand the room. If I recall, the staircase is what would be reflected? A photo collage frame? I think more colour is called for here. Your home, your choice. Bottom line is you decide what is right for your space. As you have likely noticed everyone has a different opinion, professional or not. Most important in re-styling a space is what the home owner wants to use the space for & to be their taste.

What a wonderful hall looks fantastic. For the carpet I would (budget allowing) use chrome or brass stair rods on each stair would look brilliant in there. You could always get an old or cheap console table & paint it yourself in silver or bronze etc.

Hi minnie101, Thanks so much for your detailed reply. Great to know what colour that grey is. It may be a little dark with our floor. We will definitely update the handles - I hate the current ones. We'll probably go with wood to keep within budget. Your non-tiles pic is lovely. We'll probably keep some tiles and try to keep the kitchen a little more modern than country kitchen, which might be a challenge with wood. The room faces south. I like your idea of dividing it with paint. We probably will go with white in the kitchen and then 1/2 slightly darker tones in the tv-couch area. The 'other' entrance into the dining area is narrowed by a non-structural wall, so we should remove this to open it properly or like you say, close it off. Maybe not close it off entirely as we'd lose a lot of light, but maybe put in a counter or breakfast bar if space allowed. I love your pendant light suggestions over the dining table. Details like this and a rug in the couch area will really help divide the room as at the moment it is one big cavernous space. I really can't decide yet what way the couches should face - into a tv in the corner, or out into the room like you suggest. We'll have to draw out some chalk outlines on the floor and see how much space there actually is. Colour-wise we like the idea of keeping walls and cabinets quite stark, the wood counter will add a bit of warmth, and then adding colour with couches, rugs and possibly dining chairs. I've attached a couple of pieces of furniture I like. Some may not work, but we'll figure it out.

Hello Houzz Ireland, We are currently renovating a 1960's build - so as you know, there is a lot of decisions to be made!! So it would be nice to get some gems of advice from the experts to help us through this daunting task. Areas where we would really like some inspiration for - small bathroom downstairs. I would really like to do something fun with this room and although small, I think it could work really well with some funky wallpaper or possibly tiles?! I'm just not sure what to do with it. Also - pulling a whole house together?! Where do we start? We have the bigger pieces of furniture but how do I know what nest of tables goes best with a suite? Or what accessories will bring a room together? I'm due a second baby in 2 weeks time so any help at this stage would be so amazing - to guide me on the right interior design path for our new house. Thanks, Laurie