I would be tempted with White on the walls. Will lighten the room up. Styled with lovely lush Green plants.

Thanks a lot to all of you for your input and advice! @KK1000 As you pointed out, there are some smaller pieces of furniture that does not really belong there - the two very old chairs and cabinet before the sofa (they simply ended up there) and make the room more crowded. The ceiling lights were a low budget option during last renovation. Thank you for the suggestions for replacemnt. It's something I will consider in a future (when budget and time allows). @Jonathan You hit the nail on the head - the room is indeed an obstacle course. I didn't had the courage to consider a layout change yet, but as you mentioned it inspired me to get the measurements of the room and furniture once I will visit my parents again. Actually that's the part which is for me much easier than choosing the colours and materials. There's no other room where we could move the sofa, but I can have a look whether it could be split in some way so we could change the configuration. When it comes to dark colours, I can appreaciate them, but I am afraid it is nothing for my parents. But F&B Bone and gentle dusky pink sound good to me. Thanks for your input and even making a plan! @rachelmidlands Those examples are really great! As I wrote also to Jonathan, I will now consider changing the room layout - thanks for pointing it out. Your idea to get colour inspiration from those rugs really makes sense. Pale dusky blueish grey with accents of dusky pink against light walls is a suggestion that could work for everyone in the family. May I ask you where are your examples from? I just would like to get more info about the wall paint used on those pictures (I know I have to test it in situ, but anyway). Thanks!

please show me some pictures

Thanks, I had never considered that n it would warm the room up (it's north facing so would need it!)