Hi there! I like the tiles! May be your temptation to paint the whole place white is a good idea. I think Vanilla White from Dulux will look nice and bright up the space. Your can use cobalt carpet for staircase and you have plenty of possibilities to be original with art or pictures and accessories.

trasimeno love it as an ice breaker game! Italian sky sounds gorgeous! I suspect Rioja Red has already been done but still sounds delicious and would make a great colour.

Sorry to not get back before now, decorating myself! OK, so there is definitely a lady there and definitely doesn't want grey walls. With the added information that the curtains are claret with gold streaks, I would say - go for the gold then. Also if you have some pine furniture, this makes total sense. If you look at the photo I included (and sure you can google for others) the floor is golden and wall grey, so just reverse things, wall gold tone and carpet grey. You can get some test pots and try out against the curtains to see if picks up at slight gold, but still goes with the claret and grey. Only trying these out will tell you how light or dark or bright or muted gold to go. I would advise putting two coats on a large piece of paper at least A3 and then taping that to wall, this is better as done on white so shows the true colour tone, plus and you can move it around and even better, not have to paint it out afterwards! Try looking at these samples in different lights at different times of day, with lamps on only, overhead lights only etc. I think you have the basis for a really good scheme. I would agree with adding texture in cushions etc (at later stage) make you can take them back to store and keep tags on until you're absolutely sure, you really need to try stuff in situ to make sure it works in your setting. About white - looks fine in brightly lit spaces in full lighting, like well lit bathrooms and kitchens, not so good in pokey corners or rooms with any shadows at all. Can be very hard and cold, even clinical in many Northern European rooms, especially in winter!

Thanks :) Hopefully worktops should be done within the next week. My husbands done everything himself plus he's never done anything like this before, hence why it's taking so long! but he's a perfectionist so I don't mind. No sofa yet, still unsure of what to go with plus I keep changing my mind on blinds lol. I'm so indecisive! :)