The grey wall colour! This colour pallette from the deepest to the lightest has been on trend for a while now ... and it doesn't seem to matter what room of the house: it is becoming rather ho hum!! No proportion, balance, harmony with the elements in the room. Is this room a backpackers shared TV room?

i saw the glowering pendants and the paintings at about the same time. I always thought my taste was a bit eclectic, but not to the extent of having things staring at me all the time. Dog pedestals, paintings, dog statues, antlers (faux but still animals), and that porthole type thing looks like something out of 1984. Big Brother is watching. Definitely not for me.

It's a neat concept, but highly impractical for a wet, coastal climate of BC where I live. We could only have the wall open for roughly 4 months out of the year. And those open months would need a screen, big time. I'd forever be the one to be walking into the screen, which would bug the heck out of me (pun, lol), so I'll just pass on the whole idea. It's like the convertible car owners up here. We'll get a nice, sunny day in winter and you will see these people with their tops down, but wearing toques, lol. Or they will take the top down on the first sunny morning in spring and by afternoon it's pouring rain, again. Convertible in BC? Extremely seasonal. Convertible wall in BC? Ditto.

Sue, congratulations. You've not only identified a colour you feel happier about, you've actually created it. I suspect you'll now be able to create a pleasing mix of warm greys, plywood browns, stone tones, coppers or bronzes, warm whites, etc; maybe with a bit of yellow added come spring; and you'll be able to live with the brownish sofa until you're ready to update or reupholster. I have some KAS cushion covers from a couple of years ago which show how this kind of colour mix can be done. One has stylised flowers (a la Mexican) in grey, brown and caramel with a touch of burnt orange. (You mention liking ochre.). Another is lighter grey, brown, taupe and bone-white on a natural linen. A third (less subtle) is warm greens with brown, taupe, yellow, white and a little aqua. I'm not saying go for styles that are a few years out of fashion. But do be confident enough to resist a harsh, hard-edged option if a gentler one is right for your temperament and household and the room's aspect. Robyn