Hi Rona. The picture didn't upload. There seems to be a problem this weekend but mine have worked on the 2nd attempt :)

I'm guessing by the layout, and fireplaces that it's an old Victorian building. The only thing to remember with flats is that unless you are the sole Freeholder as well as the leaseholder, then you have to get permission from the Freeholder for just about anything internally with regards moving / knocking down walls. I would say, that the best thing to do would be to have a small archway from lounge ( bed 2 ) in to the kitchen diner. The next owner can easily re-instate the wall if they want 2 bedrooms back.....................obviously 2 beds is more valuable than 1. Moving the Kitchen to the bedroom is a better idea and should be achievable as there is clearly drain access out the back near the toilet. If you were to do that you end up with a great sized lounge / diner in the biggest room. You have to take the advice of a structural engineer though, due to it being a flat as you need to know what's structural. I personally nearly always run things past a local estate agent to confirm that my changes are going to add value. I would imagine that a large / spacious well layed out one bed is going to be similar in value to a cramped 2 bed.

Humm, I had a similar colour carpet in an old rented flat years ago. It was a hard one to modernise up really but it was just a bedroom and I ended up using raspberry pink and creams which really lifted it. Also a rug over the carpet in the sofa area could draw your eyes to that and the carpet can just act as a background colour. It depends on your tastes really ie as mentioned, a country floral style would work well with the room itself. But, if you have more contemporary taste or prefer brighter colours then you could even go for a vibrant palate on a more tropical floral theme. Introduce neutral charcoal sofa with tropical cushions in deep greens with the same raspberry pinks etc and use lots of leafy plants in the room and artwork.

We had granite worktop with upstand and no splashback in our previous house and I can honestly say it never bothered me; the painted walls were easy to wipe clean and even refresh with a bit of paint when some stain got stubborn (that happened only once!) The thought of grout in the kitchen terrifies me...! :)) We now have glass for splashback and I think it's the best! (I don't have any better pics of our old kitchen, at the time I wasn't into photographing interiors). My advice is not to go for tiles, just keep it simple and clean. Good luck!