Hi Anne, Your home is beautiful with so much potential. There have been some clever ideas presented but I think its important to have an overall plan that you're working towards. This way you avoid needing to re-do certain areas. With the overall plan you would decide which materials you like and what needs to change and then you can stick to that plan as you roll out the changes. For instance, I think the brick on fireplace wall is a lovely feature of the home but the brick in the kitchen area is competing with it. With the timber panelling, it was certainly a feature of the home originally but these days we tend to paint out the panelling to make spaces feel lighter and more open. We often use Dulux China White when working with robust materials like brick and timber as it has a warm stone like tone. In one of the pictures, I can see that there is a full feature brick wall in another room which should creates a lovely flow and consistency. This is a home in Fairhaven Victoria that looked just like yours (but without the brick) and was painted in the China White. Cheers, Vikki. Your bathroom will also looks great with a touch of paint and a new vanity.

In that room I would go a bold patterned rug. It's a low contrast room as so much of the existing colours are harmonising. I like the distressed patterned rugs you've chosen but I think you should steer away from pastel versions and go a bit braver with a brighter colourway. Your room can certainly take it and I think you will be more pleased with the higher contrast. You also need a very large rug (3mx4m) otherwise as you've found with your existing rug, it's too insignificant against the scale of the room and furniture to make a reasonable impact. While the rug size I've mentioned seems huge you have to remember it's going to have your couch and ottoman sitting on it and then the room will be framed by a wide band of your floorboards. A rug that size will be in scale. To finish off, pick out a colour or two from your rug and put cushions in those same colours on your lounge. It will make a huge difference to your room.

@HU-319610855 I’m not saying this to be even the slightest bit contradictory, so please don’t take it that way. We had seperate everything. Doors, walls and divisions everywhere. We pulled it all out and went combo. We‘ve never had an issue with conflicting use, and we love the feeling of extra space and openness it created. I’m sure it all depends on your household. :-)

ddaroch..my own research and copy of the .gov YourHome books has lots of cost effective ideas for improving passive Solar Design in existing homes throughout Australia and, in a climate with four distinct seasons like Melbourne and our local area we appreciate the South West sunroom we added deliberately to create an air lock and afternoon sun trap that is easily cooled in summer with adjustable external screens..i don't believe it's possible or advisable to have a family home on a standard suburban block with all north facing windows unless there's no internal walls..raked ceilings and clerestory windows can also be a problem as they increase the volume of air that needs to be heated, especially with the preference for bigger homes with open plan living areas..... north facing glass can also be cold in early morning and late afternoon in my own home despite plenty of internal thermal mass, insulation, double glazing etc...each home site and local climate has it's own shortcomings and designing the most cost effective improvements is the challenge that we can try and help home owners overcome so that we revive older homes and improve sustainable comfort