Do you want to change style and go for more modern? In which case, although I can see the sofas working as they're nice and neutral, it may be difficult to work with the older reproduction furniture. How old is the carpet? is it in good condition?. It would be a little easier to work with the carpet and sofas and change the other furniture as they are what dates the room. The ceiling too, although not mentioned is a bit of a sticky wicket.

There are some good things in the room, like the beautiful mirror, the fireplace, that can be worked with. You could pick up on the colour of the tiles in the fireplace and have a feature wall of that colour, with the rest a nice warm creamy neutral that won't clash with the sofas.

Take up the darker colour for the curtains and a quantity of cushions, mixed with a lot more lighter ones.

Swapping the coffee table and side table for chrome to match the mirror.

Having a more modern flooring will help too, and again, carpet is fine, but a pale biscuit would help with light.

The only thing that has to go as it's just never going to fit in is the display unit at the back of the sofas.

I can't quite get the flooring right on this illustration, but you get the idea.

p.s you shouldn't really paint over wallpaper. It needs to be stripped, the walls filled and sanded, then again until smooth, then painted.

Man about the house how good are you love your ideas this room looks great already. I like sofas if the display unit had to stay I agree giving dated vibe I would consider painting it to a pleasing chalk finish in muted colour prehaps grey or taupe but looking so much nicer on this plan

If you are emptying your room to start afresh, skim over the ceiling to give a flat finish. This will instantly modernise your room! Also, remove paper and prep walls for paint. No point doing half a job. You will be sorry if you cut corners. If undecided on colours and patterns etc., in one go, start simple. Paint all walls one colour and build from there. Unless you have a specific piece of furniture or rug colour that you need/want to incorporate, build as you go! Also play around with furniture placement.

Can you post a floor plan? It doesn't matter if it is hand-drawn - just something to give us an idea of what might work. I have two main comments. First, a north facing room is never going to look bright and light so, as many interior designers recommend, go with dark - paint it a warm dark colour on all four walls; go for a colour that works well with the fireplace, a contrast rather than a match. Secondly, I feel the sofas are too big for the room. I know you want to keep them but the room would have a completely different feel if you had slender, more modern, sofas with legs that are visible (which creates a sense of space) and I'd put them facing each other as whizzywig suggests. The coffee table would look good between them - it would look even better if it were rectangular and in a style that complements the sofas. You might then find that the display cabinet works better; its colour and style might blend in more if the walls flatter it. And you wouldn't need the side tables. The carpet might work, too, if the walls were darker. I agree about the ceiling - it needs a skim; paint it in a softer, lighter version of the wall colour. I'd also remove the ceiling light and have more table lamps to give the room a softer, warmer feel. It's probably hard to move the television (does it need to be there to be near a TV point or is there one on the other side?) but it is dominating the room (it should be less obvious if you paint the room a warmer, darker colour). I think the room needs bigger pictures/paintings or a gallery arrangement; whatever you decide about that, though, they need to be a bit lower. Then play with where your bits and pieces go (the photos on top of the display cabinet make it look messy and less stylish; can you put them on tables or, perhaps, hang them on the walls?

Dundrum16 sorry I don't know where the rug is from but I would expect to find something similar in John Lewis or Habitat - or maybe from Wayfair.co.uk.