The first thing I would suggest is a central rug to soften the room and make it more inviting.

Oh man, I decided to brave Ikea on a Saturday and sad to say that Martin was quite uncomfortable! I mean, the seat itself was fine and nothing a nice seat cushion couldn't fix, but the back rest felt like its designed so that you'll have to sit perfectly upright to be remotely comfortable in it. I suppose its good for posture if nothing else, but not something one wants for a dining chair! The Svenbertil was a lot more comfy for about the same size, though a bit more expensive. I was thinking of perhaps a couple of smaller side tables instead of an actual coffee table. Not sure yet. I think I'll have to wait until the sofa gets delivered and I have it in the space before I can really decide. Generally not a fan of glass table surfaces as I can get a bit obsessed over fingerprints and glass just attracts them! I really liked this coffee table when I saw it in the showroom, then I saw the price tag. Yeah, visually on the plan I don't think the long table would work that well in terms of the flow of the space, and I think I'm going to stick with a round one. Surprisingly, the space seemed to be able to fit a D100+/- 5cm relatively well after I folded some towels and tape out the area. The Ikea one you pointed out seems ideal in terms of size, but being all white, seemed a tad boring... though I suppose I could have different chairs to mix it up a bit... a pair in white and a pair in oak. Hmm...

Hi George, there are a lot of different ways to achieve this. If you want to keep the existing furniture, it would be best to start by creating zones. This can be done in a multitude of ways. You can achieve this with paint colours, rugs, furniture, plants etc. The key is to ensure that both areas (the dining area and the sofa area) have a distinct zone while still giving the feel of a cohesive space. I would be more than happy to help you achieve this. Feel free to get in touch with me if you want me to show you different options that would work based on your budget. Tessy :-)

Thanks Minnie. We have a bathroom in Egyptian cotton which is very similar to F & B Skimming Stone. The photos I put up are from the duller part of the day, usually it's quite bright, the cabinets are a pale matt grey colour. We quite like the yellow and pale grey in the conservatory area, so we'd ideally want something that looked ok with that in the background.