There are two schools of thought when it comes to framing. One is to match the walls or furniture. The other is to pick matting and frame that enhances the picture. I go by the second school of thought. A competent framer should be able to help you if they know which way you are going. When you pull mats that pick up some of the colors in the picture, put a sample in the corner that doesn't have that color. For example, if the birds are blue and green and the branches are brown, and you are looking at a mat in the blue family, if it looks great in the corner by the blue bird, does it also look great in the corner by the brown branch? If not, move on to a different member of the blue family. Do the same with the green family and brown family. You don't have to match the colors in the picture exactly. Double mats can be attractive also.

Hi Iona and thank you!!! I'm sure your house is going to look exactly how you'd like it and you'll enjoy it even more knowing how much thought you put into every little thing you've chosen. The jellyfish are mushrooms :)) My hubby and his brother love Susan Derges' photography (me too now!) - the mushrooms were bought at an auction. If you look again at the pics of our hallway, the blue print there is one of her camera-less photos; also the girl with the drops of water that's in front of the plant in the living room; as I said, we are all big fans of her work here :)) My brother-in-law spends most of his days on auction houses websites or browsing exhibitions... usually artnet is a good place to enquire about her photos http://www.artnet.com/artists/susan-derges/2 To be honest, until I met my guy and got sucked into 'the world of originals' (ha!) I was happy buying my prints and posters from online shops and then get the frames from Ikea (like the ones in my den): http://www.zazzle.co.uk/black+and+white+photo+posters http://www.art.co.uk/gallery/id--c23951/black-and-white-photography-art-prints.htm I also look at the Tate shop at least once a month; they get lots of great stuff, as well as some artists' sites, etc: http://shop.tate.org.uk/prints/prints-by-theme/icat/themedprints http://sableandox.co.uk/photography.html I also think these trees on stone would look great in a hall: http://www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk/set-of-three-winter-trees---stone-wall-art-14635-p.asp Thanks again for all your kind words, you've made my day! :) Please share or ask for help, I did and got some great advice (from the US site). Nite-nite!

Hi Looking at all the ideas and colours that have been put forward as well as the furniture you have in place, of all the patterns i think either swaverelle/mill creek jungle jam or the waverly santa maria would sit the best in your room. It is a period property from the look of the windows so a contemporary twist on a traditonal fabric would work just fine. You can have a band of plain fabric at the leading and back edge in a complimentary fabric. Have some cushions made in the curtain fabric to tie it in. If you are keen on having blue which is very popular, look at Sandserson as they have some lovely blue fabrics in a range of blues and patterns that all work well together. Go to their website and search on Blues and a whole range of blue prints are available

Well, just to be awkward, my initial response is "it depends" - in this case, largely on what style of units you are going for. If it is more towards the traditional end of the spectrum, I would definitely go for the curved, and overall I think it is a more "sociable" layout in practice. If, however, you are going for an ultra sharp, Germanic handleless aesthetic, then I'd be more inclined to go straight. Whatever you decide, I'd certainly be aiming to make a real feature of it. As 17june points out, it is a one of cost that you will hopefully be enjoying for a great many years, so push the boat out a little further and get something to really enjoy. Oh, and I think the island is crying out for some stunning lighting above it!!