There are lots of very minor and/or free tweaks that you can do to the whole floor space which will change the feel and lift it. Firstly move the floor standing lamp (and side table?) out of the way and push your sofa right up with an inch or two to spare before it touches the wall. Then on the opposite end site the lamp (and side table?) and put your telephone on it rather than balancing it on the back of the sofa. By moving the sofa up, the space immediately feels larger when you walk in. The lamp by the door and over the back of the sofa will serve two functions -1. it will make a nice soft over light for reading or relaxing & 2. it demarks room division (which you have done very nicely with the shape of your sofa.) Next move the sideboard to the right of the radiator so it is covering the plug points to the left of the fireplace (as you look at the fireplace sat on the sofa) Hang the wall mirror over it and keep what you have on it already - that's a good job. You now have penty of space to walk around the table especially if dining guests are mingling bewteen the kitchen, dining room and lounge. Lower the height of the mirror and wall art - it should be at eye level. You have lots of lovely art in similar frames. They are mounted a little too high and you could gain more impact by grouping them as they are relatively small in size. Re. the art I would suggest making the frames darker in order to match the dark chocolate colour of the sofa. At the moment you have lots of oak (incl. the floor) and consequently nothing is "popping out" as a feature. Darkening the frames will achieve this along with grouping the art. You have a great colour palette but maybe you could add a colour pop? Gold or organge would add to the space - change the rug, add a throw, fill the mantel piece with vases and containers of flowers of various heights in a couple of colour popping colours and bijouterie. Add texture. What you have done so far looks great but sometimes it takes a fresh eye just to tweak. I am at this stage with my lounge. I'll be posting it up in a week or two. It's finished but it's missing something and I don't know what!

Front room for me! we have three rooms opened into one large living space, this is great when you have a large family. I still say front room, but mainly to describe the location of say my book or glasses if I'm am asking somebody to fetch them for me. It makes for a quicker find :)

Thanks folks. I like the idea of dark green and dark grey and agree that pictures could look great against them but I wonder if the darkness might become wearing over time - but I do have another room where I have used William Morris 'seaweed' paper in plum/brown colours (ish) between the skirting and picture rail and it does have a strong contemporary feel next to the white and I do love it. I have considered colours like F&B 'arsenic' and even ochre/yellow suit but am not sure how long I would enjoy them for. I think it would help if I decided what paintings were going to be in there but I'm a way off that decision. In contrast I have also been looking at F&B pink ground and similar as lighter warmer options as their are some peachy pinks in the painting that is definitely staying. I can move sofas inwards but there position in the room is unchangeable due to their size and the Bay window. My instinct is to remove the 2 chairs in the Bay and replace them with a pair of semi upholstered occasional chairs to soften the space. Thanks for all advice- v much appreciated.

I would go for American oak boards - an amazing bargain and the long wide boards look great. We re-floored a three-story house in 2002. The house has been tenanted ever since, so the floors haven't exactly had much in the way of TLC, but they still look great. And of course, because it is solid wood, we can always just sand and re-oil if needed (though we haven't needed to yet). At the time, it cost less than £2000 for the timber for the whole house - a decent laminate would have cost twice that, even then. We bought a 1930s apartment overlooking Hyde Park in 2006. It wasn't in great condition but, under the grotty carpet, the original parquet was still there, and all the original panelled doors. We fixed it up respectfully and it was a great, and very comfortable, place to live. It broke our heart when we sold and the new owners gutted the place and threw everything in a skip.