Hi Sue, There are endless possibilities with a room of this size. Try floating shelves to go along with your TV unit or a collage of pictures to help blend in your wall speakers. If wall paper is too much you could consider individual wall stickers to create a swooping flock of sea birds or shoal of fish to carry in the coastal theme. Definitely consider the use of tall vases that you can light up. Pick a theme and work with it but careful not to smother it with too many things. Keep it simple and it'll be nice. I've attached some examples that I've found online, the same images can be view via the below links. Cheers, Dex http://bradpike.com/interior/high-wall-decorating-ideas http://housedecoratingideasmag.com/10-bedroom-wall-decorating-ideas-for-a-beautiful-bedroom/ http://www.kylieminteriors.ca/decorating-ideas-for-wall-mount-tvs-how-to-blend-in-the-black-hole/tvhomeklondikecom/ http://azlifewave.com/high-quality-interior-decorating-ideas-for-living-rooms-inspiration/light-and-fresh-nuance-interior-decorating-ideas-for-living-room-with-minimalist-pine-tv-desk-and-media-center-nice-blackbeige-wall-shelves-beautiful-indonesian-ethnical-rattan-lamps-and-wooden-sta/

Kill two birds with one stone and replace the balustrade with a full length, double sided cabinet. This will blur the height difference between the rooms while creating more if a sense of the two rooms working independently of each other, and provide a place for interesting piece or two on the top(like sculpture). In the process, you could ensure the traffic flow and furniture of the rooms works best with the passage to the lounge where it is, and if not, decide where it works best and build the cabinet either side of the passage.

The right coffee table, throw and wall art are not going to be enough to disguise the fact that you have downsized from a much larger home with your large, dark, formal furniture that dominates a compact room. Have you considered moving pieces to other rooms, or selling it, and buying clean-lined, contemporary style furniture off eBay? This style will fit the proportions of your room, and make it easier to live with your dust free strategy. The beauty of second-hand furniture is that when you can afford to upgrade you can sell it again on eBay. and recover your costs. Never paint perfectly good pieces of timber furniture as it will devalue the pieces. Sell them as is, somebody will cherish them as they are. I would keep the couch, decide on the tone of your new timber floor, and use these two elements to decide on the rest of your colour scheme. Your celing fan/light is also a distraction, so replace with something sleek and contemporary that is not such a feature. Your room layout is problemmatic with the number of doors coming into the room, but it is hard to suggest a better stategy without a floorplan. Best of luck with making this house your new home, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

I have attached a new layout, taking into account the new, and important information. I would move your lounge to the wall where spinning wheel is. Move spinning wheel to corner window. Swap tall buffet with lower buffet. Put small chair in corner where television is. Take the two large lounge chairs out completely. They are too bulky for the space. Replace with two high back chairs in your wonderful teal colour. Add a round gold table for chairs. Then these could be used to watch television. But look wonderful when people are entering this space. The lower buffet will be behind these chairs, therefore the teal will stand out against the rich wood tones of buffet. You have unique pieces, people should be able to see them at their best.