I would put the pair of glass candle lamps together on the right side chest and opt for sidelamps with more oomph - something bigger and squat. You could also add other ornaments in different heights grouped together - don't split matching items too symmetrically, balance is key but symmetry may be boring. A geometrically patterned rug or two will look nice alonside the bed and/or at the foot of it. A narrow console unit would look nice beneath the tv; you could go for vintage as your style is very simple. Don't be afraid to dare a little - playing safe is not always the safest!!! Add a comfy reading chair with lampstand and cushions and a footwarmer or plaid on the bed and some more wall art - the heart is a great start but add more. Think layers. You have a great basic palate to funk it up a lot!

Hi Barnaby, Sounds like a great buy and a fab family home! Having been through a very similar situation in the last 6 months (moving into a house where the back wall had been extended and the house was left with a very similar 'steel and nibs' to your kitchen, where it had been opened up) I'd definitely recommend getting some advice from a few different people. Two builders told us it would be impossible to get rid of the visible RSJs and the nibs of the old external wall. It was only when I persevered and asked an architect to come and have a look and got a structural engineer in that we realised it was completely possible and far less expensive than we thought. We only ended up spending £2,000 on fees (£500 architect and £1500 structural engineer) and £12,000 on building works and it has completely transformed the space. If you're lucky enough to find a creative builder they could be really helpful with the layout but my experience was that they are more about the 'doing' and 'practicalities'. I found getting some independent design advice (from a concept planner) on the space and layout super helpful and then once we had an idea of what we wanted we were able to ask a couple of builders to price up. The designing of the layout was a fraction of the cost of anything else and saved us a lot of money in the long run. You might want to have a think about chatting to a concept planner (there are several great ones on here) and get an idea of some designs and costs. Just a suggestion :)

Hi Minnie, Thanks for this. You've had some serious thought into my predicament. There is a scale on the drawing but for you its approx 12m x 5.8 (external of the barn unit excluding 'link) but walls are quite thick. I do like your idea and think modern living, which i like tends to focus round a kitchen dining living space which doing what you say would achieve. I think I'm going to have to sketch up your ideas too and see which would practically be the better choice. We've probably spent most of our time obsessing over a really nice master, when actually you spend little time in it... well little time awake. so does it need to be so big. Id hoped to actually create a similar kitchen dining experience by removing the wall between the kitchen and living room to crate a bigger room. This would enable a small island and allow space for a dining table in the current front room and replacing the windows on the kitchen facing the garden with a more modern 'letterbox' picture postcard window to draw in the view. It was also my concern that creating this kitchen / dining in the barn would negate the need to use the original house as all family time would realistically be spend on the ground foor of the barn / bedrooms above. For what essentially is a compromise to what we had originally submitted to planning, i don't want to create anything that means the house becomes the subordinate or poorer relation to the new. It should flow and be part of the whole. I think if we went with the kitchen in barn (as awesome as it would be) wed just may as well not build the link and make a separate house minus your boot room of course. This would maximise our investment but I'm not a developer, Money is not the driver.

Hi again & thanks for all the advice/opinions so far. We are thinking of all vertical lines with the windows now, mainly because it appears easier on the eye. Hopefully we won’t miss the small openers too much. Downstairs will be sliders for the window & doors. Can anyone help with frame colour? If we stick with the brown brick (which I find dreary/dark tbh & is very marked/damaged) then we’d go with light window frames. My preference would be off white or a similar pale neutral. However, the front windows aren’t being replaced so will stay pure white for now. The soffits & fascias are white. The other half of our semi next door is white. How would this work - would we need to change fascias to a different colour so as to link the white & off white? The other option is to paint or render or clad the rear of the existing house to disguise the old brick. This could possibly allow us to venture into a different colour for the windows & doors at the back, maybe pale olive green or similar. Is this a no no when part of a semi detached building? Should we retain the same look as our other half, even if it is dated? Any advice much appreciated. Really want to brighten the house up but without making it stick out like a sore thumb as it’s semi rural here with a lot of mixed housing stock (mostly character builds). Attaching an attempt at a mock up if that helps…