Stand in the doorway to your room and decide how you want your room to present. What do you want to notice first about the room? How are you going to use the room? How many people would you like to accommodate in the room? Where do you want your TV or where is there provision for it? Will it be easily visible from all seating? Will the positioning of your seating look inviting? When it comes to colour, do you want a room that looks fresh and cool or one that is warm and cosy? This will dictate your colour scheme as well as the natural lighting in the room. The room shown appears to take inspiration from the painting which is a very good way to start a colour scheme, but you can always work in reverse and find artwork that compliments and enhances the room. Once your have some direction, go shopping with your camera phone and take photos of anything that interests you. Collect sample colours where possible and gradually build your room. Don't buy anything until you have the major items decided - we can be very restricted in choices, and an impulse buy can end a disaster. It will all come together, it just takes time and patience.

Pretty much all the advice we were going to suggest has already been given - this is why we love Houzz so much! A full 'Houzz' of top notch advice :) The only thing we would say, in addition to good soil and planting with the seasons, is to keep on top of the weeds and make sure you're planting the right herbs/edible plants where the sun is right. Weed mats are a great option, and others swear buy mulch/grass clippings too! We have some garden items that may help - like trellis', frost covers, mulch mats, etc. Check out the garden solutions range here. Also, here's a short post about the benefits of having shade in the garden. We're excited to see how your garden goes! Please share progress shots with us!

We too live in a cold winter climate with our bathrooms all on the southern side and faced similar issues as you do. One smaller bathroom does not have a window so we put in a Velux skylight which provides amazing natural light through the day. This may not be to your liking, especially if you have a period home. We also use heated towel rails and under tile heating (just enough to take the chill off and stop mould) in winter. Although we have a light in the shower recess, a bonus is the large fixed shower head with inbuilt LED, which at night gives the feeling of showering under moonlight. We chose light colours and mirrored recessed cabinets to reflect as much natural light as possible.

We are lucky enough to be able to use of a large family trust beach house, where three families, got to decorate their bedroom zones in a particular style. One featured copper lights in their styling. The area is beautiful but sadly I feel the lights are a complete miss. At night the glow from them is unpleasant and difficult to read by. I would not be using them in my house.