A belated THANK YOU to everyone who commented. This is the final result. We're super happy with it. Room A north facing "through-lounge" in a new build, 3 bed semi detached house Paint Walls: Purbeck Stone, Farrow & Ball Ceiling: Strong White, Farrow & Ball By the way, the room isn't as long and skinny as it looks in the photos. Painting it all one colour actually made it feel much, much larger. We were really impressed with the quality of advice the F&B staff gave us in regards to colour. We loved Purbeck Stone from the minute we saw it, and being brave really paid off.

Hello Sarah, I'd be inclined to suggest either dark grey, charcoal or a lighter silvery grey. Decide what the room could take. Look at the light throughout the day and the furnishings you have. What have you got going on in the rest of the house. If the feel is generally light and delicate then I would opt for a silvery grey. If you have a very strong theme throughout then perhaps it would be fantastic to have a deep moody charcoal.. Get samples and paint onto a4 paper and look at them over the course of the day to see how the light affects them. It's a wonderful colour and paper! You could accent with the skirting, architraving, cornice etc if you have those with a silvery colour with a hint of purple. Or a deep grey hint of purple if you veer towards the charcoal grey.. : ))

Hi Lindsey, How about a geometric style wallpaper? I'd suggest keeping the dado rail, wall below and skirting the same colour, and having the wallpaper above as you propose. A geometric design is contemporary and will add energy and life to the space. I'd suggest one of the following: Zoffany Spark paper GP & J Baker Langdale Trellis paper Farrow & Ball Tessella paper For the paint colour, Farrow & Ball have a great selection: Farrow & Ball paint colours I wouldn't have too much of a contrast between the paint and wallpaper colours, as the difference between a flat paint colour and geometric design should be enough of an impact. Hope that helps! PB

I would box in the pipework as that is going to be very difficult to paper around. I would also get yourself a proper scalpel from an art shop as these are best for cutting paper in situ - it will also be easier if you have paper where you can paste the wall rather than the paper. One issue you will have is around the edge of the fireplace as its such an irregular shape you will really struggle to get a clean edge. I would be inclined to agree with others who have said you will get a better finish if painted - if the wall was painted I would also polish the copper pipes to a high sheen if you don't plan to box them in, its an easy job and looks great when done.