paint the end door a striking colour, horizontal stripes on the ceiling, and 3 large pendant lights. not sure how adventurous you are, but you could consider painting different colour "zones"- 3 different colurs as you walk down the passage.....possibly even 3 short carpet runners. i love the idea of wainscoting-but you will lose precious centimetres. You can get paintable wallpaper wainscotting.

Thanks for all the feedback. We have borrowed the chair from the shop. Any further thoughts? That brown chair will go and I am proposing 2 orange chairs with orange and grey cushions on both couch and chairs. And while you are at it we are changing front door - do you think white slatted look or natural wood. Natural wood would be my preference but behind the curtains we have put in modern French doors and taken out cottage pain and everything is painted white.

Very exciting time, but I have to ask why you can't change the paint colour paint is cheap, then if the curtains are in reasonable condition you could keep them, otherwise plain coloured Ikea linen curtains to match the living room wall colour in all rooms

Judging by the breeze blocks, the style of the windows and the cypress pine floor it looks like you have a mid-century or post-war home. Internal plantation shutters, while practical for privacy and control of light aren't of the period and don't do much for the control of heat loss or heat gain as they are so many gaps. The most traditional answer would be a combination of sheer curtains and lined curtains with pelmets to give you good control of light, privacy and heat loss and gain. The other style that works well with mid-century homes is honeycomb blinds, such as Luxaflex duettes. They act like a blanket to your window when closed and as they can open from top and bottom it means you have great control of light and privacy, so are more versatile than internal plantation shutters. While they are a contemporary product, they have clean simple lines, so look less visually busy than plantation shutters. https://www.luxaflex.com.au/products/blinds/duette-shades/ Best of luck with your mid-century/post-war home, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits