Our home is a comfort driven election of many types of timber and styles having been donated bits from great grandparents, grandparents, parents and even a friend's old pine kitchen table that had been chewed by her dog! We may be awarded any trophies for our home but it is full of memories of our 50 years of marriage. The only bit of furniture I really do not like and regret buying is a tipple galas shelved TV unit. It is almost impossible to keep clean. Gilly

We are in the market of selling luxury furniture, so would recommend quality and style above all. If you can afford luxury new items thats all very well, they are beautifully made and offer gorgeous styles that can stand the test of time. However, we also understand not everyone has the budget to be able to do so. If your budget is lower, be savvy and buy traditional or contemporary pieces at auction. Use your imagination and buy quality second hand furniture and accessories that are design classics for a fraction of the price. Use interior design techniques that feature colour and textures to bring out the best in your choices. You can then incorporate inexpensive items as long as they are interestingly designed. Inexpensive ....and dull...is definitely not an option.

Can you post a floor plan - a rough drawing would do - so we can get an idea of how the room works? I want desperately to say "turn the chair round so it faces the fireplace and door/window" but perhaps there's a reason why the chair has to be in the middle of the room facing a wall? I feel all items in the room are fighting against each other instead of working in harmony. If you have a sofa, where is it - or is that something you are waiting to buy once you've worked out how to make the room work? What is the furniture peeking out on the left in the third photo and why is it there where my logic says should be where the sofa goes? Why is the rug behind the chair? It all seems a bit plonked and that if it were all moved slightly, it might be brilliant. A floor plan would really help!

I think both would work best using the same colour as you already have a number of colours (door, walls and floor). Your eyes would be naturally drawn to a light colour so decide what you wish to stand out. I’d opt for white or ivory whichever suits the current lighting and woodwork. If you don’t feel it works lighter items would be easier to cover if you choose to repaint.