I would be inclined to go with an unobtrusive light since it's the living room and anything too dramatic or a hanging pendant may interfere with your peripheral vision (or otherwise be an annoyance) when you're watching TV, etc. Also, being so near the sliding door, the wind may cause a hanging pendant to swing quite a bit which will cause the lighting to be constantly shifting and changing which I would personally find annoying. I'd go with something simple and subtle, but look at getting a tall standing lamp for the corner near the sofa (or possibly at the other end of the floating TV cabinet). In terms of warming up the apartment, I think you need something on the bare walls. A smaller picture above the floating TV cabinet will help to take the focus off your TV. A larger art work behind the sofa will also help to add some colour and personality, especially if it picks up some hues from your sofa. If you don't like the little Buddha statue, I would look at adding one or two other items that you do like (perhaps picking up colours from the wall art) and making a little vignette. A couple of colourful cushions and a storage solution for the wires, games console, etc on the floor would also help to bring everything together. Something as simple as a woven basket under the floating TV cabinet might help to keep the games console, etc in place unless it is in use.

@Tribble - the situation is the same in Em Bee's part of the world as in ours. Aging demographic, lots of immigration and also internal migration, and of course offshore buying. But where I live, the issue isn't so much competition, as the inability of builders/developers to read the market. Our own builder (small builder, one project at a time, some of them industrial, not housing) told us that the two-story houses in our town were simply not selling that quickly, whereas the one-story houses were listed and gone. (He sold us our house before he tore down the old one, and sold the other house on the block about 3/4 of the way through the build and before it was ever listed. The two story house around the corner from us was on the market for 8 months). I'm not a huge fan of government intervention in housing (I saw public housing in the UK and that was not a good thing) but I do think strong regulation on foreign property buyers is appropriate. That said, I also think the builders need to get their heads together and recognize that there's a boomer population that has a bit of money and wants something different than the bog-standard two-storey box house. Time for the developers to catch up. Okay, sorry, second rant for the day.

Hi Highlandslass I would recommend to try using an indirect light, that floods light back onto the ceiling, so you don't see the actual light source. In particular as you don't actually need to generate too much light from what you say, this will be a really nice option and give you nice ambient lighting. If you go for a warm light (say around 2700-3000 K (that is the measurement for the light temperature) LED, it won't use much energy but create a friendly inviting atmosphere. So you can actually leave it on for a lot of the time and it'll add a nice feel to your home. There's a lot of choice out there for the actual fittings, depending on your style, and they don't cost the earth. Hope that helps, let us know if you need any further assistance :-) Good luck with it ! All the Best Marc.

Not sure how it would go in Brisbane but what about trying a conifer? They grow fast and very tall. You can shape them or leave them natural. They are plain and certainly not tropical. Maybe speak to a local nursery and find out if they would grow in the sub-tropical climate of Brisbane first, as they are usually in colder climates (Sydney and south). Leightons Green Conifer – Leyland Cypress http://www.evergreengrowers.com.au/shop/hedging-screening/leightons-green-conifer-leyland-cypress/ Your quite limited if there's not enough sun and you dont use bamboo or tropical plants. Many other screening plants or hedges wont get tall enough for that space and climate. I hope you find something.