this is my house

Hello Dub M, Well it also depends on what else colour wise you're choosing for your scheme.. Whether you want bold and dramatic or whether you want something lighter in feel... Using them sparingly with a lot of plain in between or perhaps as boarders can then lend themselves to accent rather than statement... All depends on what you want from them as they're versatile! For pale schemes.. Think of colours such as creams, wheat and pale sun hued creams with hints of yellow.. Light and earthy tones on the cream, wheat, canvas, hessian colours perhaps beige and pale mustards, or pale golden creams and burnt siena with hints of brown,ochres .. For bold consider dark almost purple blues and hints of mauve.. Also Charcoal and greys with black and brown hues... For a warm but dramatic look.. The colours are chalky and have depth... Include wood work and again wall covering is versatile in that it could be half height or whole height.. Put tiles and colours together to see what you like.. Paint onto squares of paper no less than A4 and place them where you might want to use them.. Look throughout the day to see how they react and interact with their space and the changing light.. From one colour you can begin to mix it to blend and become another.. In this way you can see colours interact with each other. Use versions of them by working with lighter and or darker varieties of the chosen colour.. Here's a doodle to show the colours blue and others I'm suggesting so you can see the blue is still quite dominant. I rather like blue and elements of yellows, old golds and creams.. Look at the tiles themselves too for inspiration... : ))

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated. So I'm kind of stuck with the chaise as it is but could move it to another room (at the cost of moving the problem elsewhere). It's not actually mine so I don't really want to go to the expense of reupholstering it. The chest also isn't mine, but I'll have them both for a few years yet. If I move the chaise I'd probably have to swap it for a deep red rocking chair I have in another room (see pic), which would again influence the colour scheme. The sofa would fit under the window but there's a radiator there so it's not really ideal. I'll look into moving the TV point though as that would allow me to have chaise / rocking chair and sofa on two walls together. I agree that the blinds are an issue so I think I'll try to get either a glass covering instead, or some white blinds. I may even paint the windows white too if I'm brave enough. For the walls, I liked your mock up Carolins and the suggestions to use a light grey. That's what I was already considering. Still can't decide whether to have a dark grey feature wall, but it's tempting. I agree with the accent colour suggestions - I really like pink or yellow with grey. Carolins - where are those yellow toned cushions from? Definitely a big mirror too. Hmm decision time!

Thank you all for your suggestions! Lots to consider... Special thanks to Celerygirl and Carolina for the mock-ups. I have to say, that creme rug changes the whole feel of the room... AS, Colourhappy and Celerygirl, I have some 3 different greys left from other jobs; I think I'm going to paint some lining paper and put it against the fireplace, units, windows, etc and see what it looks like. I'm also thinking of the smokey purple we have in the bedroom, that could be an alternative. Also, I'll have to buy some of that hue Jonathan suggested (it's quite intriguing). Jen P and Carolina, maybe I could keep the beige and change the accessories... I ordered a new frame with a proper mount for Chris Ofili's painting and might put it back above the fireplace. Najeebah, I know I need to cull the accessories, we have too many all over the house and I don't know where to place them any more. But I love most of them and find it hard to think about letting some go... Hubby almost sank in the middle of the Bristol channel today and had to abandon the race, so I thought bringing up wall colours tonight would not help my cause. See, I can be sensible... and he says I'm not sympathetic to his sailing problems... :)) Thank you so much for your help again, I'll let you know the next step as soon as we decide what to do. Good night all!