Hi Sian! I would not recommend painting the wall red or green as per se. If you have a small room and furniture is red/green you need to be careful with wall colour, I suggest keeping it as neutral as possible. Soft/dark grey is a safe choice and looks good in contrast to red. It would be good to see the rest of the furniture for a better perspective, perhaps you can take photos with your phone? Check out the option below for colours. Considering your description of the room, I would think about Fashionable grey or Moroccan brown (disregard the blue and brick colours) ? See below the options, from this palette you can also think about grey owl or similar.

My partner disguised an ugly fire by making an MDF 'cupboard' with a gap at the bottom, using 2 cm x 4 cm wood and MDF panels readily available from DIY stores, some of which will cut it to size for you. He is not skilled at DIY but made a reasonable job of it and I painted it afterwards. There are a variety of decorative panels, e.g. trellis or other cut out designs, so it doesn't have to be plain or expensive. The other option is to save a specific search on ebay or check on Gumtree. Good luck!

I don’t think it will look and good. The coal pieces are big and sit on a burner that is open at the bottom and glass beads found with contemporary fires are small and designed for a burner inset into a flat bed. Keep the coal- it’s easier

Thank you Isla, please let us know if you require any further information or advice on this topic. Best, Camilla ADOVA