http://houzz.com/photos/25111623 Hi, Your house looks so interesting. The columns have a sand beige in them that I think would look great on your walls. I have attached a photo with a similar colour mix. I hope this helps :)

Thanks Anne and I will look at pale grey given the maintenance considerations. I have already paid for a colour consultant who was great but the Reckless grey she suggested for the house render and basalt gutters/fascia and front wall were too grey when we had the render samples put on and while it had a modern look, it was not giving the beach/coastal feel. I will head back into our inspirations paint store this morning to see if I can find the warm grey colours that have the most similar colour make up to Dune, and go from there. Anne you don't happen to know the dulux colour most close in composition to Colorbond Dune so I know where to start? Thanks again and I would love to hear from anyone who has got a dune roof and hear if they tried light coloured gutters and what render colours they have used on their walls.

Before choosing any surface, do the finger test, unless you are house clean slave. The finger test is see what marks show with a slightly greasy(hand lotion) fingers. Most blacks show finger marks big time. Same with counter tops. Best test is scatter with bread crumbs, if that disturbs you forget it, otherwise you will be kitchen cleaning all day. The same goes for concealed handles, they quickly get full of crusted much and chip easy. A working kitchen needs to be practical, easy to clean and totally family proof.

Hi Kathryn, making an assumption here but if your wish is to make the room more cohesive, I’d try to pare it back. One way to begin is to, temporarily, remove everything except the essentials - cushions, art, knick knacks, books, small tables etc. Then list what large items you feel don’t ‘fit’ the feel you’re after. The following is a for instance example only: your lounge set and the red armchair are lovely and suit the house. The office chair is a great colour match and mixing modern and traditional can be great, but it takes up a lot of room making the room look a bit cramped. So, do you remove one of the chairs? Or find a smaller desk? Or could one of the other furniture pieces go? Or could the placement of the items be altered for better flow? Only you know what is essential, what feels good to you, what other spaces you have et al. Once you’ve got a plan, which will include where to place the television 😉, bring back the items you love and feel suit your style, group them to enhance the look you want to achieve (Houzz is full of ideas about displaying your treasures effectively), add some pretty time period lighting and you’re good to go. Long term, you might consider getting a framed wicker cover or similar to hide the modern day tech near your front door, if it bothers you. One last thing re the gas fire heater, and I’d at least think about it just on an economic and environmental basis, check out stones as an alternative to the wood fire replicants.