We're all for a bit of hard work, and would definitely paint the cupboards. You are right not to use F&B, it's an inferior paint compared to dulux, and not correct for your purposes, being Eggshell finish. Dulux Trade Satinwood is far better, gives a better finish and is hardwearing. ( It's also more expensive than F&B i'm afraid, but you get what you pay for ). I'd paint the cupboards in a pale grey and replace the knobs. Give the area behind the bed a good dark grey finish, to help with making your choice of headboard really stand out. A quick rough paint idea using Dulux Night Jewels 2 and 6

Hi. I prefer the first option plumbing permitting. Hard to tell from looking at the pics but can the bed go opposite the chimney breast with the ensuite door in the bottom corner? It looks as if you could possibly have narrow bedside tables. Alternatively float the bed in the bay which I think looks particularly good with a 4 poster. If in budget I might also reinstate the fire..

This is what I would do if I had this space, from left to right, double hanging space between the bay and the chimney breast shelf above top rail, plinth shelf below, storage is always useful. Depending on the depth of the chimney breast you could incorporate the drawers here in front of it, I see no problem in extending this part of the wardrobe out if this still gives you room to walk around the bed, take this up to approx 1 metre high with a shelf on top, because I am male I would then fit a Tv on the wall above with doors that open out and retract back into the unit so your doors aren’t open into the room while watching the tv. If you do not have room to incorporate drawers here then I would put them in the right hand side of the chimney breast as this is the wider section, if you went for this option then above the drawers I would either continue with shelving above or lower the height of the drawers and put in a hanging rail for shirts or similar in height. I’m guessing if there is a lady present you will need space or hanging long dresses or similar so this could go on the far right leaving a centre space in this section for double hanging items. All doors could be made for example a shaker style with cut mirrors in between the borders. Depending on what you go for you may not need to fit the skirting around that part of the room as it will be hidden behind close doors but will depend on the condition on the walls behind it. Hope this makes sense and give you some ideas.

It really does depend on the property. It could fix the problem or it could make it much worse. There are a number of reasons why you will get damp. Water ingress - caused by some damage whether a leaking pipe, guttering or from neighbouring property or from damage to the structure e.g. the roof or damp proof course. Poor ventilation - older properties had built in ventilation. Solid brick walls were designed to "breathe". Covering these in materials like vinyl paper prevents the movement of moisture through the wall. The moisture becomes trapped and causes damp. Excess moisture - people, pets, appliances, bathrooms and kitchens all produce moisture. If this moisture isn't allowed to escape it will cause damp. So in answering your question. It will depend on your property and the way it is used. Thermal lining paper could work in a house that has damp caused by condensation by keeping warm moist air away from cold walls you eliminate the condensation point. However the same lining paper in a house that has moisture in the wall because of water ingress would make the damp problem much worse by trapping the water in the wall and not allowing it to dry out. All houses since ancient times are designed with systems (roofs, guttering, drains, breathable materials, heating, vents, chimneys, mechanical extraction, damp proof course etc) to prevent excess moisture indoors. It's usually people messing with these systems or damage to them that causes damp problems. The first step in fixing any damp problem is finding the cause. Once you've found the cause you can eliminate it at the source and so generally don't need overpriced damp proofing solutions sold by the damp proofing "experts".