Hello Lisamarie, Thank you very much! Well look at it like this, I offer up ideas I would do or consider but then you need to see what works for you and what you like, in my suggestions.. My advice is never impartial though as I am far too invested in what I do and love.. You do need to consider the furniture though but despite all these ideas your bright cushions will still add a really nice contrast.. What I was thinking, because I have this same experience... I painted the chimney breast only in grey.. I then painted the walls a cream colour, skirting in white. In your case it would be Wimborne for the walls and All White for the woodwork... ... I lived with it for a while but felt bored. It wasn't dramatic or characterful.. .. So I went on to paint the left wall where the window is and the opposite wall.. So 3 sides will now have dark grey 1 of the walls has an 8 ft by 6 ft mirror though the other is the chimney breast and the alcoves will be papered Oreste charcoal by Zoffany.. When I have got around to paying my pro-forma! ;) ..... (It's going to be a dark interior for the living room).. So I then painted all the window frames and windows black against the window panes and again a purple/grey colour I made for the frames, skirting, picture rail and architrave. It is coming along but not finished.. I have very little £ so I have to do things when I can.. Why not get some A4 paper and a few sample pots of nice chalky whites and creams, I do like pointing, also Shaded White and Clunch are really gr8 ... Stick some on the wall and some of the skirting colour on the skirting... You want to butt them up close together, so you can see them together... Look throughout the day at the changes. Duplicate the wall colours at eye level too.. so you can see at more height.. The room will look like a bad shave day! : ) ) Colours will change depending on the light.. choose a colour that is just a little creamier, so that if you want the woodwork white... you can still get a contrast.. Otherwise it will be white wall and woodwork and a downpipe chimney breast... So let's just say you went with some contrast... For Downpipe you could have Plummett or Manor house grey for the wood work... You could do the floor too.... Take these ideas and extend them to the other rooms... See what feels right.. Let me know what you think and if you get all that... and have more questions.. I just can't ever write a paragraph!! :))

Hi Nicky. It might also be worth contacting some designers. Some offer their trade discounts and therefore what you pay the designer is somewhat negated against potential savings. Some designers may also offer a room rate which can be quite reasonable if you're just stuck on certain rooms. A lot of people struggle with colour so it may well be worth employing a colour consultant to ensure the whole house flows or farrow and ball offer the same service. Companies such as oka, laura ashley etc also offer an interior design service but you're buying their products.

Sorry, those rugs were both oka and they're not particularly cheap! Would these work as alternatives? They're both from JOhn Lewis and may be worth a look. I agree the tv needs to have something under it. Have you actually found any low consoles and will the tv sit flat once the mantle is up as it looks tight? I know it's the reason you posted but it's tricky to get furniture height to work with mantle height, you also need to make the console is wide enough for the tv to sit on, not too high for tv viewing plus make sure neither of the pieces encroach on the fire! What's the actual distance either side of the fire from the corners? You could try celerygirls idea, moving the tv over a bit more to the left and swap the curtains for Roman blinds hung outside of the recess to add height and not block light? Or go for a corner unit like this with a matching set of drawers or console. Personally I would put some boxes there to trial it before buying! https://www.cotswoldco.com/living-room-furniture/tv-stands/chester-large-corner-tv-unit---up-to-56/

Thank you! I can get some F&B samples to try. I absolutely love the dark colours and I think that would be better. However, my hubby might disagree as we have just had the area painted white (had the whole house painted white!) so what colour would you suggest for the sofa, rug and lighting if we kept with the white walls, white TV unit to create a warm snuggly feel, please? Apologies I should've mentioned this to start too