This is a real family kitchen with a very authentic fee. My own take would be to go one of two ways. Either go with the warm in the kitchen that you so obviously feel drawn to.... in which case the gingham in the warm tone would suit well. If you felt you wanted to tie in and bring together the more designed look, then go with the closest you can get to the Aga, these are samples but you can probably get a better match. Gingham is a class country furnishing choice, your home says family, warmth, winter suppers near the bum warmer...gingham won't fight that in winter, and will brighten the feel in summer. Do let me know how you decide and good luck. x

Hi. The curtain fabric is quite traditional so I would go for a contemporary take on an oriental rug, something picking up the dark red and cream of the curtains with the wall colour. this website may give you ideas. http://www.benuta.co.uk/oriental-rug-nain-6la-ca-1mio-kn-sqm-green-5-1.html There are different ways of placing the rug but personally I like all front feet on as it really zones the area. To do that, the sofas would need to be pulled away from the walls and the leather towards the door if there's room? I agree with natalie re coffee table. I would also add a couple of cushions with purple trim or a pattern to the leather sofa. I'm not sure where you are in the country but this place may also be worth a try http://www.rugsofpetworth.co.uk/decorative/

I personally have made several roman blinds for kitchen windows and prefer these as they give softer lines than roller blinds, but it depends on the style of your decor to a certain extent. Both the style of blinds in the above kitchens look lovely, because they go with the rooms (the softer edging to blinds on the more trad kitchen, the plain white on modernist one). If you want some color, you can choose the fabric and make either style yourself from a kit, which gives you much more flexibility. Purchased blinds (if they are any quality at all) are much too expensive for what they are, in my opinion!

I think you feel it looks too solid is because you haven’t followed through with the rest of the room, for example cushions to tie in with it. Further up these comments minnie101 has suggested some black patterned cushions which i think would lift the scheme, however if you really don’t like it then follow your heart and return it. Why keep something you don’t like? Then choose a colour-way that you prefer, such as the blue you suggested. A blue coastal theme would tie in nicely with the neutral theme you have at the moment. By the way, i got a Turkish rug from Olney Carpets in Bucks, and they let us take it home for a week to see if we liked it before buying! True service, and yes we did buy it! Of course buying online does give you that option too. I wish you lots of luck.