I have original 200 year old wide bead and butt panelling boxing in a stairway. Oddly enough it is horizontal. It goes with a one of a kind door at the bottom of the stairs that has panels that are sort of triangular. Of course I shall keep both and will include some similar panelling in the house but in moderation. I had considered it for the bathroom but I fall on the side that thinks it will be a maintenance problem. It would however be great in a cloakroom, painted of course.

Hi I’m also a developer/PRL, and the best price of advice I was given when I was starting out was to remember that on low to mid range profit projects (if not all projects) controlling your spending is the most important thing to remember, and every £ you spend is a £ less profit. I too hate uPVC windows and would not have them on my own home, but many people do like them and see them as a positive when it comes to buying/selling – just look at the houses either side of your house, and I assume along the whole of the street; people do like them! With my developer head on I would suggest that you try to work with what you already have - clean the uPVC frames inside and out with a solvent based professional cleaner, these really shift dirt and marks, and to a certain extent make scratches less noticeable as it removes the ingrained dirt. Replace the interior handles – new ones can be found online at around £1.99 each if you bulk buy. Replace any worn seals with a new universal fitting seal (approx £16 for 20m). If any of the windows are blown/misted, look at replacing the sealed glazed unit instead of the whole window, again the sealed units can be found quite cheaply online. With regards to your porch, it looks like it is integrated with the front window, so removing it would be a time consuming and costly job, so I would leave it as is and possibly look at just replacing the outer door, ideally one with a glazed panel to give a bit more light. I know you said you don't like uPVC doors, however, composite doors are more expensive. As you won't be living there does it really matter if you install a white uPVC door, as long it is the most tasteful and least offensive one you can find. An alternative would be to install fully glazed French doors with both sides opening, which would possibly mean that the doors can open inwards. All of these can be bought online and be fitted yourself – however, you will need to check if you will require a FENSA certificate issuing for the work, otherwise this could cause issues when you come to sell. I wouldn't advise painting the uPVC, as it is really difficult to obtain a good finish, and nothing looks worse than poorly finished paintwork either inside or outside. As others have said, remove the nets, put up some nice curtains (these can be removed and reused on other projects), don't worry regarding privacy, as again you will not be living there, and it will allow more light into the room. If the privacy angle does bother you, you can always put a plain white voile (costs around £2 per m, and a couple of £ for the rod) up at the window with little or no fullness, which gives a more modern, less fussy finish. I would move the dustbins to the rear of the property, and put a couple of large pots in the front garden – I tend to use Olive trees as they can be shaped and don't mind too much if they aren't watered regularly – these can also be removed and used on other projects. Hope this helps – and good luck for the future!

There are virtually no true dull orange terracotta colours on the market as yet, surprising as Terracotta is all over instagram at the moment. You could go to Valspar and get one mixed. This is one from Graham and Brown... https://www.grahambrown.com/uk/sweet-potato-pie-matt-emulsion-2.5l/CT-090-017-107038.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&&sv_tax1=google&sv_tax2=Performance%20Max&sv_tax3=Performance%20Max%20-%20Paint&sv_tax4=CT-090-017-107038&sv_campaign_id=16443634521&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz7uRBhDRARIsAFqjulmkJMqNo8JOup1ClXTVOevb21DYEiP6V5k5T6QViYIYn7ummFXZjAEaAq9DEALw_wcB

I assume the furniture in your pictures are not yours? I have a through lounge too, that is you have to walk through the lounge to get into the kitchen. It is what it is. I think put the sofa on the wall opposite the stairs, then tv on the stair wall or on a nice big tv stand. Ensure the tv stand is bigger than the tv if possible. People entering the lounge will walk across the tv area and that can’t be helped, but you need to measure the wall opposite the stairs accurately as you have limited width there. When I recently bought a new sofa I took measurements with me to ensure the sofa would fit comfortably. Never just assume it will fit. This is my sofa and door wall, the tv is opposite next to the fireplace.