We had a dark wood fire surround which we painted white using an Annie Sloan product. It was alright but looked a bit ........dull. As Minnie suggests, the coverage was not great. As we were completely refurbishing the room recently, we changed the surround using Little Green's 'Mid-Lead'. WHAT a difference it has made! We used 3 coats of traditional oil egg shell to get the finish we wanted finish we wanted. I'm so pleased we used this paint.

Hello Claire, I apologies if this sounds like a rant but I will attempt to structure it. In my opinion skirting boards are a waste of space, they are just another thing to clean. Their original purpose was so that fancy shoes with spurs wouldn't end up carving out the wall, but since anyone who wears spurs today will find themselves ridiculed to no end, skirting boards have become a way to hide an untidy job with respect to carpeting. My advice is of course to check what your skirtingboads aee hiding and if there is nothing objectionable take them out. If you like them and find they act as a pleasant intermediate between wall and floor keep them and maybe even paint them a contrasting colour to make a feature out of them.

You don't have to take the surround out if that's what you mean, although as I said in my other reply the hearth looks too big. Get a Gas Safe authorised person/company to take out the fires and cap off the existing gas.

I'm sure you've already considered if there was any possibility of making this your living room. I know I'd get much more use if the doors/balcony if it was a living room and a sofa would not encroach so far into the room as the bed does. Presuming there's no chance of a swap, for a temp solution I'd move the head of the bed to the fireplace wall and place a headboard or privacy screen/room divider etc to conceal the fireplace. You'd need something that still allows the wardrobe to function but in the short term I don't suppose it would matter if it slightly encroaches on the desk (until you've removed it) By doing this you'll make it less hazardous by covering up the tiles and will also be able to see if the lack of space at the bottom of the bed is as much of a problem as the tiles/hearth were. You can gauge how much effort/money it's worth to gain the extra inches at the foot of the bed. Good luck!