You can get the same very smooth finish with actual wood paint, Satinwood. We use Dulux Trade professional Satinwood, and usually you will only need two coats on top of a primer coat. Sets beautifully smooth and no need to seal. Emulsion is for walls !

In the case of the room shown - it is the fuscia coloured sofa, the colour of which is replicated in the artwork above. When designing a space - you can decide, which will be the dominant feature. In some cases it can be an architectural element of the property or a statement piece of art or pendant light can be the WOW factor.

Thank you all for voting! We went with a charcoal velvet sofa in the end, very squishy and comfortable - great for the library! Green velvet would have also looked great but as ever, budgets aren’t unlimited so we went with something that would hopefully fit in if the decor changed in the future!

Thanks everyone for your ideas. That's great and really useful. Like the rug ishanson. It's looking like either a neutral (but contrasting against beige carpet) or a colour based rug would work equally well, depending on personal preference. We have double doors from the living room into our dining room which has black & white check curtains - photo shows the view through. I'm wondering whether a black and white/ivory rug would connect the rooms together from a design point of view? Saying that I think a rug that pulls the colours together would look good too.