I personally prefer that light and table option, the light adds a lot of warmth with the table and I prefer the design which sits well with the art although both are lovely. Have you looked at the mad men rug in concrete jungle (which has brown tones on my screen!)? The hydrangea might also be nice in blush? There are lots of brass ornaments around ATM for the table or bookcase too

That's interesting colourhappy - we did omit the aqua tiles and put just the taupe with blanco (which has some grey tones in the variations) but it looked a little bland which is why we thought the aqua might liven it up but now I'm thinking you are right and they are too cool for the flagstones.

Hi Sarah, Huge rug under dining table - big yes! As I mentioned before, just make sure it it doesn't have a deep pile and is fairly easy to clean / hoover. This will break up the black considerably! The rug size needs to be big enough to pull all your chairs out and they still sit on the rug - that's the minimum right size. Just a thought about finding the right paint colour for your walls and cabinets to brighten everything up. When my family took a trip down to cornwall, we stayed in this lovely cottage in the country-side. The cottage had small little deep windows, so didn't get much light in. However the cottage was so bright, warm & crisp. It had been painted a white that really really worked - white can be tricky to get right. So I called the owners of the cottage to see if they had a paint can laying around so I could find out the exact colour. It was straight Brilliant White - standard paint you can get for kitchens, walls, ceilings, masonry, etc in whatever finish you need (matt, sheen, semi-gloss or gloss). I've used it a couple of times sinse to freshen up or update an area, to make small spaces pop, or just to bring a whole space that crisp - perfect white look to show off art and objects (it is one of the few whites that can do so well as art and objects usually look dull or get lost with a plain white background). This might help with your project as it is the best paint for reflecting light and brightening your areas - but it is bright - so you will have to do a test area to see if it is too bright for you, in which case go with a white toned down from that. Think the rug(s) & the paint colour change of walls & cabinets will work the best for you since you've spent a lot on your interior already and your husband likes it as is - it is hard to justify large costs when your partner thinks it is great and you've already spent a lot.. Good luck!

I have similar and believe me it is not oak overload. I have glass set in oak for the stairs (like your image). I also have oak doors, skirting and door frames. We decided to have these around 18 months ago as they were treated with Monocoat so will never ever touching again. Easy maintenance. The landing and stairs have mid grey carpet. We have Oak plank flooring in the hall. It looks smart and classy. Stair makeovers like that in your image are extremely popular. At work we carry out dozens of them. Here are my landing/stairs ....