Well after a very (very very very) long time my Living Room is all but complete. There is some work to do behind the new steps and some trim to be put on the bookshelves. A light is to be put between the couches (that the electrical cable hanging down) and the wall lights are going to be removed. So just a quick rundown on what has been achieved; Two sky windows - Velux - roofing guy Sheeted under the beams - plasterer New carpet – Bunnings – carpet layer Closed off the old bar and put in a door – builder and plasterer Installed ceiling fans – Hunter, remote control, reversible – electrician Installed downlights - electrician Painted the endwalls – Solver Paint but Dulux Chine White colour - me Painted the ceiling – 2 x coats Solver Ceiling White over 2 x coats plaster board sealer - me New blinds (venetians) and curtains - from Spotlight - me Installed a gas bayonet heater (until I can afford a gas ‘wood’ fire for the fireplace – cripes they are expensive) – secondhand from Garage Sale - me Installed bookshelves – 2 x 202mm high + 2 x 106mm high Billy Bookshelf and 2 x Brimnes Cabinet - me Built and installed new steps and bench top on bookshelf – laminated Beech bench top, cut to size and routed, stained and oiled - me Sofas – Ikea Ektorp - me So some things I would have done differently. The downlights would be warm white not welding mask white. In fact I would re-think the whole light thing and possibly use lights with reflectors that were dark so that light was only reflected down. They would ‘lower’ the ceiling and make the room cosier I think. I kinda like the ceiling fans but had seen some which were awesome but really expensive. Then I saw ones very similar to the awesome ones but much cheaper but by then it was too late. I should have put bi-fold doors where the old bar was instead of a swinging door. I suspect that it will be unlikely now that I can use the room for its intended purpose. In fact with hindsight I coulda shoulda done the job myself rather than getting a builder in. It’s not as good as it should be and that has disappointed me. The bookshelves have come a up a treat – need to finish them off though with some trim. All from ‘Ikea’ except for the timber bench top. The bench top was a light bulb moment and breaks up the all-white appearance of the shelves. Also the white of the shelves and the white of the cabinet were slightly different and the bench has helped disguise that. The bench top and the steps were laminated beech panels from ‘Bunnings’ that I had cut to size. I stained them, put a router over the edge to round it off and then coated with Tung Oil. The bookshelves look bigger in real life than they do in the photos too. So now to sit and enjoy my handy work.

Hi Sasha. What a great space with lots of scope to move your furniture around, and all that natural light! The first thing I noticed was the dark curtains drawing my eye to the dark window frames. Although you clearly can't do anything about the latter, I would definitely change the former. My go-to place for quick affordable pieces is Ikea and my advice would be to measure up the windows and head for their roller blinds and curtains. If you put 3 or 4 block-out blinds up under that pelmet you can control how much light and/or privacy you'd like and by replacing those dark curtains with a lighter linen variety, you'll add a contemporary feel to the room and bring the attention away from the [I assume] aluminium frames. You could get enough to span the entire width or just a couple for the ends. Splash out on a generous tall houseplant like a [dragon tree[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/midcentury-bedroom-midcentury-bedroom-philadelphia-phvw-vp~1905898) for any area's that you might like to add height - I think we tend to fall into the trap of having two visual levels in a room, one being the furniture which tends to end at about hip-height, and the other being art or such for eye level. Both of these are horizontal lines but a tall voluminous plant adds a vertical element like a standard lamp. I'd move yours away from the corner though and place it against a larger expanse of wall. If it has to stay in a corner, put something tall behind/beside it like a narrow book case, or an artwork that's centered with the lampshade. Then it looks like it has purpose. Also, I would move the sofa away from the wall and add a console table as a place to display treasures. Can you swap the long chaise part of the sofa to the other end? Doing this would define that area more and open up the view of your outdoor area. In fact, I'd be tempted to rotate the sofa 90deg to face the windows and put a sofa table/book case behind it for extra storage. I assume that's your TV along the wall to the right - you could shuffle it down towards the window corner and angle it towards the sofa [that would reduce glare on the screen from the window too]. If you do this, you'll create an area for the dining table if you want. I'm not sure from the picture if your table is currently against a wall or if there's more room off to the right that we can't see. If it's against the wall, I'd be moving it across to the left to about where that rug currently sits [a bit further this way though - if that makes sense!] Here's an example of what I'm thinking. That's where the rugs come in. I'd be using two large rugs to both define the areas and protect the carpet. One under the dining table and one under the sofa. These are both areas where the carpet can quickly get grubby! Large artworks are, as you say, a challenge but they don't have to be hung. If you have a large vertical canvas you can prop it against the wall or sit smaller works up on a narrow table [another use for that console table!]. Try to find [or even make] some large canvasses that have a lot of white in them and retire that red pic in the black frame for a while. If you go for the light/white curtains then a complimentary artwork will help to freshen the whole area. Hope I've been able to help a bit!

I only mentioned the wood thing as I think your flooring is a fantastic statement piece in itself so would either maintain the tones up the wall or maximise it with simple white lines and lighting but I am a minimalist at heart! Not a professional designer and am simply just providing an opinion. Honestly the choice is yours as far as blending light and dark, just consider the tones with each as sometimes they clash - but if that's the look your going for than all good!! :-) Maybe just start by moving the TV to the wall - you'll see a huge difference in just that. Make sure you get the height right for the best viewing otherwise you'll kill your neck! It may be enough for you to reduce that 'bare' feeling your getting before doing anything else.

Hi TommyG, your own instinct and the more recent advice is the soundest - a single large artwork or mirror is what's needed to anchor the space, but as the mirror wouldn't be reflecting anything but an interior wall in that position, go with the artwork. That's always a highly personal choice, but we specialise in oversize canvases (single panels up to 2.8m, or larger spans across several panels) so if you find something you love in our online gallery, we can create it in dimensions you require - as this 2.4m high artwork illustrates.