I would remove the scooped headboard that accentuates the alcove. I certainly wouldn't 'hang' a mirror but opt for clean lines. Instead of a headboard I would use lateral tongue & groove up to the light switches above the bed up to the alcove & as far as the end of the bedside cabinets to give the bed a ships cabin feel. A good joiner could also add bedside cupboards to the "headboard" to continue the ships cabin feel. I would continue the lateral tongue & groove into the alcove, all over, which would be higher than the T&G above the bed but keeps it cohesive & makes a real integrated feature of the alcove. I think lateral T&G keeps it contemporary & not seaside twee. I would T&G the whole bed area in this way & keep the rest of the room pretty simple. If you wanted a mirror I would have a glazier cut a porthole mirror in the centre of the alcove surrounded by the tongue & groove. All the T&G in the whole bed area should be painted in the same colour i think so that the alcove becomes part of the whole. It will be a lovely individual feature but for success the alcove has to be integrated , i feel. A few books & a few natural pieces would look great on the bottom ledge of the alcove & would be useful too. You are so lucky to already have bed side lights & I would just change the fittings to a contemporary cabin style light on either side. There are lots around & are usually metal I think.

Thank you so much for your comments. You would not believe how helpful they are and they have really worked to 'unblock' my chaotic thinking. The sofas have arrived this morning - I had a very stressful time watching as the delivery guys had to do a bit of dismantling to get them through the doors. All safely installed now. One of them is perhaps a bit too big for the space really but we are looking at rearranging to make it work. The room does look a bit darker - not helped by the gloomy light this morning - but hopefully that can get sorted with the new decor when it happens. We have had a look at some options for a coffee table with drawers for my partner's 'bruck' (an old Scottish/Orcadian word for junk I think) and I think this might work out well. BTW today he has added eye-drops, selloptape, a battery charger and a pen-knife to the collection of things that need to be at his elbow! As for the flooring ideas. The rest of the ground floor is covered with Amtico, which I really like but I wanted the sitting room to have a cosier, slightly more luxurious feel to it so I am not keen to go for stripped boards or other hard flooring. I will have a good look at the 'naturals', though they do seem a bit 'scratchy' perhaps. I have attached (I hope) a photo of one of the sofas to show the colour. They are rather darker than AJ Interiors suggested in the photo. Any other suggestions for colour schemes/decor would be most welcome. The point that comes through the postings so far is the need to incorporate some natural elements to soften the potential harshness of the scheme so I will focus on this once I have got the fundamentals fixed in my mind. I shall have more questions later on as I am also doing stairs and landing - hope it's OK to pot again. Thanks once more to Minnie et al.

No big TV! I know what my OH would say to that He couldn’t wait to get the big ass latest 4K tv. It would be a shame to lose the fireplace as it is a nice feature ( I’ve got nothing against traditional features) but if you have a nice one elsewhere in the house and this room is primarily for tv viewing then I’d be tempted to lose it. If you leave a small opening of the fire place you could do like Resh said and have a small gel burner, candles or some logs with fairy lights. Or maybe stash the AV equipment in there and cover with fire screen in front, back lit with orange Led lights so it kind of looks like a fire but isn’t. Dark colour walls sound fab, my only problem is I think the radiator will stick out like a sore thumb, so either paint it same colour as the walls, cover it, or maybe replace with one of them fancy Victorian style column radiators.

I completely missed that! LOL. Mornings ;0) - the door will indeed be painted the same colour. I just took it off to paint all the door frame and it’s on my list for the next rainy day (been starting the garden tidy up now the patio is done as it’s a mess!) Only pain is that from the hallway it will be painted a lighter colour so now I have to sand down all the drips on it and the frame as I made a mess, ha ha. Would have loved dark doors in the hall BUT it’s a tiny space with barely any natural light and has 5 doors in it!! (Bungalow) pfff. All wood so have to paint them (horrified smiley face inserted here!!)