Hi,Firstly what a lovely fireplace,such a design feature and something that should definitely be embraced. Painting would just give a block colour to something that seems to have many hues to it. Perhaps a black granite upcycle to the plinth and shelf would give it an edgier feel. Good luck!

This room was a big part of the reconfigured floor plan - the staircase originally went straight into the master bedroom, where you then had to walk through to get to the other rooms. This room was used as an empty entrance room. We moved the staircase in to the centre of the property, and manufactured a new oak staircase and recreated an entrance room which also had a cloakroom in. This meant upstairs, we could open the space right up and have 4 rooms leading off the stairs. Downstairs, it meant there was room for a snug, and a fireplace with access either side! Before: After: The living room was dated and a bit dark, it had a stone clad fireplace with a little fire which was drowned by the surround. The staircase was situated to the right hand side, so we moved it to the centre of the property and opened up the space. It now has a large open plan snug/living room and dining/garden room. We replaced the beams in oak to match existing. The floor is Aged & Smoked Oak engineered board. The fireplace has been rebuilt and repointed in parts, and forms an inglenook. We used an aged piece of oak for the new mantel. Before: After:

I would either make a feature of it and go darker ie a mid grey stone paint. OR I would paint the chimney breast a nice contrasting colour so the fire surround stands out. Much easier to do the latter and change it when you wanted

Firstly, you have got a lovely sized room which looks like it can be quite bright. I can see what you mean, having the two doorways makes placing furniture difficult. I would try putting the 3 seater & the 2 seater next to each other in front of the main window (as long as they didn’t block out too much light from the main window, you do risk sun fading and possibly damaging the leather sofas by the sunlight though so maybe a coloured throw draped over them would be good with bright pastel coloured cushions) and put the armchair in place of the 2 seater with the TV where the 3 seater is now. You’ll have greater access to the doors and your room should feel more spacious. Paint wise the colour Egyptian Cotton by dulux would really lift the oak colour doors and tone really well with your carpet, it is a greige with slight green tone but very restful, you can then accent this with bright pastel coloured accessories. I hope that helps a little.