The pic with the colours chairs works so well as they are the only coloured things in that set - if you want them to be as stunning - I think you need to emulate the set - ie white walls and white floor ! If you go with the darker wood floor that you are considering - personally - I think it may loose a little of its Wow ! ( will look fantastic with white plates !! And the three colours used as serving or side dishes /napkins etc )

Hello Sean, Congratulations on your new home! One thing to decide is where do you want to go in terms of style... You have the beginnings of two looks here... One could be dramatic and moody with the painting... The other is light and more neutral.. So sticking to what you have said you'd like.. You could paint the rear wall in something like Juniper Ash from Little Greene, replace the sofa or add dark layers to blend it with a darker wall. Look at colours here and texture...Beautiful cushions.. . For the other walls another Little Greene colour that would be nice is Arquerite. Replacing the curtains to compliment the wall colour (lighter) would add to this and rug too but something bigger as current one is too small.. It doesn't want to define the space by contrasting so much with the floor... and for this I would suggest the light colour for inspiration.. Try some tester pots.. Paint onto sheets of paper and have a look at different times of the day... Consider painting the doors and architrave... If you have UPVC then you can buy plastic primer and then paint the colour you like that would compliment these.. Usually for wood it would be an eggshell.. Then have a look at the lighting... Pendant in complimentary colours... For the dining table, consider something with a glass sheet table top... You can buy the table as a whole or legs and have a top made. There are also extendable glass tables... As there is not a lot of room to play with here, it would be nice to have something that isn't solid... This then gives you the idea of more room... What about an arrangement of transparent chairs.. For limited space areas these can be fantastic.. Functional but discreet... Create a beautiful table arrangement of flowers and or a glass centrepiece... Then onto the kitchen... you may be able to add some of the colour scheme in this area too... Cupboards? Matt paint, walls, maybe a collection of inky hued cups and cutlery... : ))

In a lot of cases, I suspect the answer would be for the same reason you do eat at a table - it's what people generally grew up doing, it's what they're used to doing and, being part of the television generation, it's just too convenient to do otherwise. Ironically, I don't tend to watch very much television at all, except when I'm sat, tray in lap, eating ... Another possibility is that not everyone has the space for a permanent formal dining table, and use one with fold-down leaves, for example, which can be hidden away behind an armchair, or somesuch, and wheeled out requiring the moving of other furniture) for special occasions - entertaining, or xmas dinner. For my own part, it's a combination of familiarity, and the fact that it's simply more comfortable to sit in an armchair, or on a sofa, tray on lap, even if I don't bother putting the television on.

Just drawing attention to the time factor involved when ordering bespoke items in time for Christmas. If you don't consider this now you may have a major problem.