paint-wash the stone of the square part of house to blend w/the color of the rear house; pick up roof color w/the terra cotta awnings and pots of trees (could be 3 different shaped pots) add trailing plants on roof at left to balance...some flagstones to create a little path to entry and create a low step to door (concrete or flagstone) add off white window covering where turquoise is----easy fixes

I had a similar situation in a house I moved into years ago. I did a quick fix of painting all of the walls, woodword and the cupboards the same shade of cream. Sounds a bit OTT but it really knocked back the cupboards, which in all honesty are not something you want to make a feature out of, and created a calmness to the whole space. In your case, I would go for an off white so that the gang plug wires, radiator pipes and covers hiding the wires for the extractor fan etc., are disguised as much as possible -- that will tie in with the palest of the tiles in the splash back, and then you will have a pretty basic colour scheme of a very place colour and the dark worktop, fireplace and floor, which will stand out more. I think you need more storage with doors -- that bookshelf isn't doing anything for the kitchen. If you could get something in there that could hide lots of clutter -- even if just something cheap from IKEA, that would help greatly. Or work something around the filing cabinet that you have? A huge cheap mirror over the fireplace would bounce some light around too. If you don't want to go for undercupboard lighting, and if you have enough plug points, how about some lamps on the worktop, especially at the FF end with a floor standing lamp at the end with the chair. For the table, I would go for a table cloth and reupholster the chairs if they are not to your taste. A new blind in a much fresher colour would be great. Depending on the colour of your filing cabinet (if you use it), I think a petrol blue could add a nice vintage vibe to the chimney breast, and make more of a feature of it. I would try and go down a vintage/slightly industrial route rather than country. You may have some stuff lurking around that you could use, once you have got the base colours right -- currently it just feels a little cluttered and a bit of a mish mash. Best of luck. Looking forward to seeing some after shots :)

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These are the tile samples I have so far. On the left - small top dark grey, under that is a tile with faux stepped marble effect tiles that are more slate toned. Large tile to the right is the mandarin stone one (v expensive, lol) The walnut in the middle I love the pattern but it’s not as rich a colour as I wanted and I can’t find anything else online in an American walnut style tile. The bottom tile is a v v pale grey with similar pattern to the mandarin stone one. How would you work these tiles together? Walnut floor and sink unit and dark grey all over the walls? Just the patterned grey on the back of the shower wall and sink area and plain grey on other walls?? :0/