Well, I was really young in the nineties..in the middle of the nineties we moved into our first rental, then first apartment..very little money too. I remember being into light wood. I loved maple and cherry-as opposite to my childhood home. (now I prefer teak and walnut...)). I remember going to the stores that were completely unattainable in their price range, and just admiring. We did get a few important things though, like a bed, a dining table, a futon sofa, a vanity...and slowly added to it. Most of these pieces are still alive and kicking-they were really well made. But some, I could afford just to look at. I remember one sectional..I would be going several times a week to the store just to look at it from afar. The upholstery was amazing-it would change from soft silver green to soft silver purple, depending on an angle you looked at it. I found it again here in US, after 15 years. It was Ligne Roset store where I saw it. I recognized it immediately. But this time, I tried to sit on it-and found it really uncomfortable..:) Well..I realize it doesn't shed much light on the general decor tendencies..:)

Kevin, forgive me for asking, but what are the dark spots on the walls? Could it be mold? I read your post last night and wondered if you WANT to keep the pink walls or if you're looking to do something else? Could you expand on your question, so people could offer more help? Do you want to work around what is there, or remove it, and do you want to keep the pink? Is the current furniture like the bookcase and white painted bureau staying? What is your budget for making changes?

Fori, The goal is to get everything done before we move in, but that won't be until the end of June. We are expecting to close sometime beginning of May, so we'll have about a month and a half to get stuff done. I am also waiting to see what the inspector says about some water damage to the cabinets that are under the sink. If those have to go, then everything might just need to go. We'll see. I'm just brainstorming for now, in case we end up keeping them. The cabinets in that post I've definitely seen before. I'll have to take a closer look and see if there's any way to tell if there's melamine under the slab part of the door, which from what I'm understanding, is what you are suggesting. I guess the main thing I don't like about the style is they were never made with the intention of having hardware installed. The handle is already "built in" so installing a handle of any kind seems awkward, and I don't know where it would go. Which is why I was searching for other people's upgrades of this style. But apparently if anyone else ever had them, they've thrown them all out, since they don't seem to exist anywhere else on the internet! Thanks again :)

Thanks RL Relocation LLC, yes this is why we went with centre, because of the door and window. The reason why we went with centre also as opposed to the side was mostly so we didn’t over complicate the space. I was dead against a tv over the fireplace to start with, but too many people have disagreed with me and now I agree. We will be decorating the space nicely eventually and can adapt our decor accordingly. If we build in to the side we will not have room. We have a dining room, but it has a pool table in it at the moment, and we have another lounge room, but it is smaller, which we may put the pool table into so we can use the dining room as it was intended. But the living room space cannot be used like this at the moment, so it is what it is. It is all so frustrating and hard. My main question is, if we don’t go with the design suggested, a flat stone face, and instead for the timber ledge, are we really going to ruin the house by going ”too modern” as my builder has said?