I am so pleased not to be trendy as I really hate cacti. Nothing at all to recommend them apart from a comedy value. Send the poor things back to the desert to save them being put in the bin when the next trendy craze comes along. Grrrr

Thanks everyone :) The only thing I'm worried about is these small dark marks. Possibly the beginning of rot? I thought it could be caused by the plant getting stabbed by its own spikes when I was re-potting it! I'm unsure whether to cut them out or leave. I don't want to cause the plant any more upheaval really!

yes I like the jungle idea possibly, though not sure if should keep with ivy as it matches whats currently there.. , not sure about the shelves or seating by the TV though. In the room next door there is an an 8 seater table, and a kitchen island, so its not as though this is the only place to have seating I guess. I like the ideas of natural look, almost Japanese, bamboo, bringing the garden in, just having difficulty with which wall colours, what to do with the post? keep white or make a colourful feature of it, and also what colour sofa bed, rug, paint on the walls to make everything blend in. It's so difficult, can't go for a lightish sofa, as it would just get too dirty, but I'm open to all ideas and very very much appreciate both yours and Rukmini's I have no idea how to put a room pic together like that so it helps massively. They have a lot of friends round, so a comfy rug /beanbags are also great, as long as we can also put them somewhere away too, so they're not in the way

Thanks both, you are probably correct. The cactus was planted in a bowl with other succulents that required weekly watering. I have removed it now. Will it survive as it is or will I need to do anything else to help it?