Further to my comment above...I searched 'blackboard paint walls in photos' on this site and dozens of examples came up.

Hi Melanie, I really love the look and feel of your house. There's a couple of recommendations I can offer. I do like what Robandlyn suggested for the kitchen wall being painted in blackboard paint. The other option to consider is adding a full height mirror. This wont necessarily be functional but it will bounce what light there is and make it 'feel' brighter and bigger. I noticed that your joinery is built up to the wall, so adding a narrow shelving unit will mean adjusting the existing joinery at a bit of expense. If you do have a bit more of a budget, consider adding in mirror backed glass shelving with LED strips along the back edge. this would add a bit of 'WOW' into the kitchen.

For the lounge room, have you considered rearranging the furniture so that its no longer against the walls? This would open up a few more options and potentially allow you to add a narrow desk against the tall wall, or perhaps add a gas fireplace into the corner. You could still add some art work, either as one bigger piece or a collection of 4-6. The overall style is lovely, but the lounge doesn't quite match the lamp and side tables, so depending on your budget you could change over the 3-seater lounge with 2 arm chairs which match the lamp and coffee table - think you are introducing a bit of retro styling which is gorgeous. If that's the look you are after, could I suggest purchasing vivid yellow 'Egg' chairs. These would look fabulous with an over sized mirror behind them, the frame wouldn't need to be timber, it would be studded with more mirror beads, or something similar. If you want to keep the black lounge perhaps add cushions which directly match the colour in your lamp shade.

Hope this helps,

Halia, Wild Terrain Designs, Melbourne, Australia

Hi Melanie, love to help you with an amazing piece of art if we can! Of course, what's amazing is a very personal choice but we have a range of original collections that you might like to explore - we then create these at the size required to suit your wall space.

You can search our online gallery by colour, for example starting with pink, our blush pink cockatoo could be an option, would look great framed and perhaps paired with the black. If birds aren't your thing, perhaps explore our popular treescapes.

Do reach out if something resonates with you and we can help you with the choice of size from there.

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Gorgeous house!

I'd put a beautiful mirror on the wall above the lounge, being adjacent to the window it will reflect light beautifully into the room and avoid the wall looking like a dead end. Either one large one or even 3 in a row as it's quite a wide wall. IKEA have great simple white framed ones that would work well otherwise West Elm have lovely feature mirrors.

I like the idea of chalkboard paint for the end of the kitchen wall, it would look cute and the dark colour would also make the wall recede.

Alyernatively a gallery wall of lots of framed candid family photos and children's artwork could look great in either space and add a bit of personality.

Oh and I love the idea of a large vintage poster for the kitchen wall - can add a pop of colour to a blank space and could even be food or beverage themed. An original would be amazing but if your budget won't stretch that far, allposters.com.au have a big selection.

Have fun! Would love to see the 'after'!

All of the artwork pictured below is from Designer Boys, we love them!

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Hi Melanie, have you thought of a feature wallpaper wall in your living room? Given the block colour of the lounge suite, the neutral colour palette, and the metal cage pendant, you could add almost any feature wallpaper - dynamic geometric, very popular Kelly Wearstler 'Trellis', an outdoor forest scene, art deco inspired silver and black flock, etc. The options are quite endless. You could then hang a beautiful mirror to reflect light. (hallway photo just example of dynamic wallpaper in a neutral palette) Unless you LOVE the floor lamp, I'd move it to another room. It's a really nice floor lamp but does compete with the industrial tone of the cage light and the black of the lounge suite.

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In the kitchen, a dynamic art work would look fabulous. A single, large format black and white photo or a colourful piece, or pieces. If you have children, it's a great spot to run some skirting board across the middle and nail on bull dog clips.Hang the children's art work as per the example below.

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Good luck :-)

Hi Melanie,

Have you thought about Wallpaper for your Living Room Wall?

I would suggest replacing the tall floor lamp you currently have in the corner with a medium sized side table, and using a table lamp instead with a plain fabric shade, and putting the same (or similar) table lamp on the side table at the other end of your 3-seater sofa. This will bring an element of symmetry to this wall, and you can then apply a decorative wallpaper to the wall behind. Depending on which wallpaper you select, you could still apply a large piece of art or 2 x identically sized framed artworks or even a long mirror to this wall, over the Wallpaper, provided the colours, tones and textures align. Try Eurowalls for a nice selection of Wallpapers - both bold and subtle, depending on your taste.

If your Kitchen is close by, you could even apply the same Wallpaper, perhaps in a different colour way, to the wall in question, to provide some cohesion between the Kitchen and your Living Space. I would then hang a lovely big Clock or even a cork board full of family photos, or a framed typography print referencing something 'kitchen' related like coffee or cooking or Wine even!

Good luck X

Hi

Artificial vertical gardens may be an option. You can get a variety of designs and price points.

You can add plants to the entire wall area or add a square meter of plants

Here are some examples that we have created for customers

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or what about glass splash back to fit the kitchen wall ? we used a fabulous nude image by Brett Dorron

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Here are some original artwork suggestions below that would work well in your rooms. For more examples visit my website:
www.corinnenatel.co.uk and feel free to email me:
design@corinnenatel.co.uk

Love your house! How quirky are you? I love houses that reflect people's personality and souls and don't just look like pretty pictures from a magazine. I also think it is cool when people use 'found objects' to create a look. Wallpaper? Can be expensive and in your face. Vertical gardens? Require maintenance, water and light. Can get messy. Purchased art work? Can be pricey. Do you know anyone who works in a cinema or are you good at chatting people up? Ask if you can have one of their life-sized cardboard standup adverts for a movie (one you like, of course) and put it on the narrow wall in the kitchen! For example. Easily changed when you get tired of it.

those vertical gardens require as much maintenance as your cardboard adverts! they are artificial

Hi,

The kitchen space you have to decorate is a great opportunity to incorporate an amazing mosaic/ feature tile. Add some pop without being too much.

I'd be inclined to choose whatever large art piece(s) you like but also choose a colour from it and paint the wall behind. Add some contrasting cushions and whatever on side tables.

love the mirror idea, also a great piece of art would look wonderful, match your lampshade and cushions, a coffee table and feature chair and beautiful plant would look gorgeous.

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Take a look on our website project page, in particular our Double Bay project. We installed a textures tiled feature wall and often use tiles and timber to give a 3D effect. Our only advice with feature walls would be to make them a feature, not just a colour. Tie it in with your art work or even create a gallery wall. Double Bay Project with tiled wall