The next time I decorate by a colour of the year will be the first time. Don't hold your breath. I have nothing against this particular colour but it doesn't work with all the things I've collected over the years, and I am not about to discard carpets bought after hard bargaining with dubious merchants in Istanbul or Islamabad because they don't "go" with a paint colour that someone voted "colour of the year." In its place, I think the colour would be quite nice (better than this years choices, certainly). It's just that my place isn't the right place for it.

Sue, congratulations. You've not only identified a colour you feel happier about, you've actually created it. I suspect you'll now be able to create a pleasing mix of warm greys, plywood browns, stone tones, coppers or bronzes, warm whites, etc; maybe with a bit of yellow added come spring; and you'll be able to live with the brownish sofa until you're ready to update or reupholster. I have some KAS cushion covers from a couple of years ago which show how this kind of colour mix can be done. One has stylised flowers (a la Mexican) in grey, brown and caramel with a touch of burnt orange. (You mention liking ochre.). Another is lighter grey, brown, taupe and bone-white on a natural linen. A third (less subtle) is warm greens with brown, taupe, yellow, white and a little aqua. I'm not saying go for styles that are a few years out of fashion. But do be confident enough to resist a harsh, hard-edged option if a gentler one is right for your temperament and household and the room's aspect. Robyn

overlapping comments and questions!!..i would have less glass in the room but more carefully positioned but have the walls already been built? and you said the joiner wanted 1500mm on either side of the heater and with the heater, say 900mm+ 1500 + 1500 =3900mm leaving only 700mm for the window seat along that end wall so don't think the corner position works any better but, assuming that the window seat is essential for seating crowds, i suggest that the western window could be shorter with bookshelves on sides and above the window leaving north and south walls for the couch and heater (although the heater and couch in my first suggestion could also be swopped over) but it's difficult to be precise without accurate window sizes and the orientation and direction of best views ....to have pendants for dining tables would make it impossible to rearrange furniture so i would have ceiling spotlights evenly distributed around the room with pendants only over the island...and i'm wondering about the room outside the living areas (an entry foyer perhaps??) and other options for the heater and piano but we need names and measurements of all the other rooms to make any other suggestions and/or could you use a heating cooker positioned in the kitchen?

Do this yourself it will save money. Figure out how much of the wall you are wanting to cover, figure out how wide u want the slats and then the gap. Then make sure you have the tools and order the materials from a hardware store or bunnings. Tools youll need are nails, hammer or brad nailer, level, pencil a set square. Thats all i can think of right now.