I would paint your bookshelf the same colour as the walls and stuff it with, well, books! I would paint the built-in corner unit to match and just use it for potplants - ivy that hangs down would look good. As for the coffee table, if the room is small, what I did in our little family room was hunted around and found a large curved hunk of tempered glass from Freedom and it sort of 'floats' and looks invisible in some lights. Seriously, I think the line was called Ghost and was very reasonable (they also had a side table to match). Throw a bit of cherry red around and see how it looks with the creams and the taupes. Here is a pic of the coffee table.

Hi Terri So glad you found our advice for your living room helpful. Here are a few tips to instantly modernise your dining space, without having to replace your dining set: 1) From what I can see, the combination of furniture and artwork you currently have in your dining area, can potentially make this space appear smaller than I think it actually is. Also, the combination of darker colours and timber in a medium size space tend to absorb the light, where lighter colours help reflect the light and make a space feel more vibrant and spacious. Replacing the current artwork with something lighter and brighter, will instantly enhance this space. The 'Orange Blossom' canvas with a timber look shadow box frame from Urban Road is lighter and will match all the colours of your dining table, chairs, wall and even rug. ->Urban Road 2) Another easy thing to do is get a neutral colour runner for your dining table to break the solid timber look. This one from Freedom 'Noya table runner' will work well ->Freedom runner 3) Adding 3 large vases placed on the runner to match the colours of the artwork will help add interest to the space. These rustic vases from Temple and Webster -> Tall Vases for example will do just that. 4) Last but not least, adding a large potted plant will immediately liven up a room. If you don't have time to maintain a live plant, go for the synthetic option. Freedom has a great selection of larger plants, and these days you can get synthetic plants that look exactly like the real thing. Put them all together and you will have a beautiful space to enjoy :-)

Hi Soshu, Megan from Bluethumb online art gallery here. I agree that you could open up the space by removing those boxy units above the TV. I would also think that because it's such a dark room, adding a mirror somewhere could help brighten up the space. I'd also suggest adding white or teal sheer curtains instead of the blockout blinds for a softer, brighter look. You've also got a great opportunity to add some artwork with that empty wall behind the couch there. Since you've already chosen an accent colour of a teal blue, why not find an artwork that matches with your colour scheme? Artwork will really help to personalise the space, especially an original piece that you love. At the moment, it does feel a little impersonal. I'd suggest going with a showstopping piece that will generate conversation the moment people spy it. Some suggestions from popular Australian artists are: This gorgeous print by Indigenous artist Bradley Kickett, who was a finalist in our art prize this year: https://bluethumb.com.au/bradley-kickett/Artwork/burlong-pool-165976 Another print by another finalist from our prize, Renata Waterfall: https://bluethumb.com.au/renata-waterfall/Artwork/and-everything-else-is-still A large resin piece by popular artist, Annette Spinks: https://bluethumb.com.au/annettespinks/Artwork/deeper-series-crevices-2 Some other suggestions from some of our most popular artists: https://bluethumb.com.au/vanessa-mae/Artwork/coral-garden-vanessa-mae https://bluethumb.com.au/sharonmonagleart-com/Artwork/she-breathes-indigo-into-an-empty-sky https://bluethumb.com.au/sharonmonagleart-com/Artwork/and-then-you-were-gone https://bluethumb.com.au/dinah-wakefield/Artwork/oceans-embrace-7 https://bluethumb.com.au/alorna-co/Artwork/azurite We also have some fine art photography from contemporary Australian photographers, which can certainly have a huge impact: https://bluethumb.com.au/photography/hugh-hamilton/artwork/swan-lake-1-hugh-hamilton https://bluethumb.com.au/photography/matty-smith/artwork/new-pennies https://bluethumb.com.au/photography/alex-frayne/artwork/breaking-good https://bluethumb.com.au/photography/damien-drew/artwork/shima_river-gunma-2012 https://bluethumb.com.au/photography/damoscope/artwork/misty-morning-2-damian-seagar https://bluethumb.com.au/photography/martine-perret/artwork/le-lagon-bleu https://bluethumb.com.au/photography/pennyp/artwork/thalassophile I hope this helps! Let me know if you'd like any more suggestions.

Thanks Kim and pottsy for sharing your ideas! @ Kim, I thought white colour will usually make the space look more expansive, but after hearing your comment that it'd lift the space, I googled some living room photos with a white rug and it's so true! I am also hoping to have a low maintenance living room - and I can imagine even a small stain, dart, even my hair.. will look so apparent on a white rug. So, even though a white, fluffy rug sounds so attractive especially in winter like now, I'll think twice. It'll be an investment piece we'd like to appreciate it for a long time. Instead, we can probably put fluffy pillows to create a warm winter look for a limited time:) l love the photo of the living room you shared. It gives me a comfortable and warm feeling, and I am particularly impressed about the use of the colours in the artwork and cushions. They go so well together, without showing too much effort/calculation (that's the pro...🥂). @ pottsy, thank you for reminding me that it's okay to be little bit playful in dressing up our favourite rooms. We also tend to choose simple, "boring" colours for our clothes (and we also own a couples of tops with stripes with combinations of colours from grey/navy/black and white), though I do like various colours (blue, green, light pink etc...). Like what you shared and also suggested by Kim, it's such a good idea to use some colours we are truely drawn towards (the issue with me is that there are a lot - in your case it seems to be warm colours?😊), because when we are surrounded by our favourite colours - rooms or cars - they give us energy. Thank you again for Kim and pottsy for keep sharing your great ideas and inspirations to help me shape my idea😊