Thanks for all the help, for anyone who is interested in the outcome in the future I found some in a place called tlc direct and bizarrely it was a brushed chrome finish in a make called Knightsbridge that came up as a good match against my aged pewter door knobs! Lots of the other pewter sockets were quite flat in colour whereas the aged pewter has flecks in it so they just didn't seem to work together. There is also a really lovely make called Finesse that does pewter electric fittings. Very expensive though. Thanks again!

Hi Darren, having seen the photo's of the neighbours, no you may not have problems with planning. However, I don't see how this will solve your initial directive. You wanted a social space connected with the lounge. Just making the kitchen bigger I don't think solves this. I also do not think that the majority of people these days just want a big kitchen, they, like you want more open plan / broken plan living, thus putting the extension at the rear makes the most sense. I think you're going round in circles and making this a lot harder than it needs to be. There's enough room at the back for an extension, which gives you great space and lets you keep the garage. Win, win.................and more saleable in the future with more probably adds the most value to the house. Check with an estate agent.

FB inchyra blue is nice with the light blue. If you want a bit more calming effect, a bit lighter shade give less contrast, I would suggest the FB de nimes. Also for the balance would be nice to bring in some cream colour and maybe some warm accents you could do with the cushions, curtains, on bed linens, rugs. Playing with patterns and texture also would make the space more athmospheric. I attached a few collage the first is cream the FB light blue and the de nimes, then combine these with various textiles. You could make your own collages from the wall colours, accessories, materials you like so you can see better, what combo would like

Given the sideways chimney and wide window I think this house will always feel kinda mid century or modern and so Victorian adornments probably won’t do what you are thinking. Furthermore a TV over a fireplace is uncomfortable to watch and will likely make you more aware of the ceiling height. Plus adding coving will highlight the different ceiling heights. Do you really want this house to feel Victorian (which it probably never will) or do you just want the decorating style to be fancier than your previous house? Maybe the starting point should be your existing furniture and what you have to work with..... perhaps you already have a contemporary sofa and in this house you choose to decorate the walls in warmer shades..... or use wall paper or wall panelling? Instead of a contemporary floor covering at the last house perhaps you might choose a warm hardwood for this one or something patterned such as a Herringbone woven carpet? Instead of downlighters and a ceiling pendant perhaps you might choose wall lights and walk over lights here? And given that the chimney is clearly to the right you can remove a lot of the current chimney breast replacing it with side by side TV and fireplace which means a well planned wall with electric flame effect fire (so needs no chimney and can be used year round) and TV at eye level when sitting.