Thanks everyone, some great ideas here. I think I'm going to go for a big modern lamp, although the idea of a Tiffany lamp has me thinking. Adding a bold bit of colour. I won't go for a table as I think I've got too much oak and furniture in the room. Had looked at a corner unit and there are some fantastic ones around. But again it's another piece of furniture. I'm not discounting the plant idea either but will decide in the next few days. It's just strange having two sofas instead of the corner unit. I'm going to start by taking down the curtains and getting lighter ones. Will post a picture when I've finished. Thanks for all your input, it's helped a great deal. X

I have a large fig tree on my patio and lots of veg I plant in fish boxes picked up from the beach. I had a large vegetable garden but this gets smaller every year because I can't resist planting fruit trees - so far I have a 3 apple trees, pear, plum, cherry and apricot trees. Currently cropping onions, leeks, artichokes, rhubarb, potatoes, salad leaves and watercress from the garden - the strawberries will soon be ready to eat. Lots of herbs outside the kitchen door as well.

The landing needs to be treated as a room in itself and given its own personality. I can see that minimalist is your style so I wouldn't add stuff so much as adding detail. If you were to add a wallpaper on the window wall taking it up to the flat ceiling, this would add a lovely surprise as you come up the stairs. It is separate from the main stairs so doesn't have to follow anywhere else. I would keep some neutral tones in it but if you fancy a snippet of colour then go for it.Add a cushion in a similar palette to the chair and possible link the two with a rug. Another idea is to make a feature of the stair window. You have loads of space there and could really make a statement with the window by setting a cascade roman blind quite high above the window so the hem just sits on the top of the window frame. This will left your eye, make the window feel much bigger and give you something lovely. Again, it doesn't have to be colour, it's the detail that counts. This cascade roman is set high above the window using the wall for the stack rather than taking away the natural light. The other photo above I can't seem to move but it shows another cascade blind that shows that the pleats are the feature and you don't have to have anything too patterned to make a design feature. I hope that's helpful.

Good quality garden furniture isn’t cheap. I bought mine in the end of summer season sale and it was the showroom one, so greatly reduced. Apart from online, some of the nicest furniture is in garden centres. John Lewis are quite good but pretty expensive. There are lots of lovely trees you can try. Figs are not delicate at all in my experience. My parents had two growing out in the open. They do prefer sun, as do all fruit trees. Peaches need a warm wall to grow against. Lots of info on RHS website. Ive always bought relatively cheap solar lights which run out of power within the year so I’ll be looking at the solar Centre too!