I will resist the temptation to suggest light and bright and pops of colour that are so frequently offered. In this case hearing you wanted modern, but also reading between he lines, and presuming you want a somewhat sophisticated but also moody bedroom, which is modern and stylish without being fussy. Brown is a neutral best used to effect with tonal variations. Anything from lighter coffee tones to rich deep chocolates and even charcoals will bring out the structural bones of the room. Textile will soften the harshness of a dramatic darker space, layers add luxury and comfort to the bed, so it's where I would spend my money. In a small bedroom, or any bedroom there is a style essential checklist, which would read like this. The largest bed suite you can accommodate, a queen as a minimum for a master. Beside table, shelves, chests or drawers typically one per side, lighting for either side, either pendant or Soft ambient lighting, an armchair, this has the ability to create the style mood, set the scene if you like and will surprise you how often you use it, and lastly artwork. I'd go a large single piece opposite your bed, so you see it, but you an also use link in pieces either side of your bed, or a gallery wall above your bedhead, it all depends on your style. Build layers with texture, many fabrics in throws, pillows, cushions and drapery, then continue with accent pieces in lighting, candles, a planter or a candle. Even for a guy, these things are what will complete the look, making it a spae you'll want to retreat to, and then never leave! One last tip, try not to use too many colours on permanent areas such as walls, Instead opt to use caramels, or grey stone colours and introduce colour in art for personality or less permanent accent pieces than can afford being changed, neutral colour even bold rich colour on the wall to set the mood, it will provide a rich backdrop for dramatic art and blend into your carpets. As for drapery, I'd go similar to your carpet so it feels unified and consistent, even if you have a blackout blind, don't avoid dressing the window,it makes the difference between any bedroom you've ever seen in hotels or magazines you aspire to, and what peopl actually do. Usually very differentpeople settle on practical and don't bother to go beyond that, that is where the first mistake is made and the difference from designers and diyers. Good luck

Hi jdublya, happy new year and sorry about the late reply! I ended up doing the safe / lazy thing... left the floor untouched and painted a feature wall deep grey, as well as having two-toned grey curtains to both the sliding doors, and a dark grey area rug. The open plan living / dining gets lots of light, so it's still bright even with all the dark greys. We've paired it with mismatched sofas in light grey and brown, and sage green throws. Overall, it's still a "warm" look and not the cool Scandi look I would have preferred, but it's cozy and the greys have really calmed down the red. It's a lot more to my taste now than the show room furniture was. Bits of the floor finish are coming off though, I think (where the kitchen island stools have been dragged over the years by the past occupant), so in time I will get the opportunity to re-do the floor and it'll no longer be red!

Hi Lindel Love the design and view! There are a couple of solutions here, depending on what the requirements are (ie cost versus energy efficiency). To your original query, the Colorbond will give a better maintenance long term but obviously the energy efficiency is zilch. The structure behind needs to do the insulation work as well as be structural. From a cost point of view timber framing is cheaper but the wall insulation is limited. You can however use a structural insulated panel to be both the structure as well as the insulation for everything from the upper floor to the walls and roof.... We are doing an extension in this at present which will actually look like a 1930's character style to match the existing home. I'm not familiar with your BAL but we have found that when we get such high insulation ratings from the walls and roof it has usually enabled us to cover the losses from windows and given the ability to have larger windows without the need for double glazing. Regarding the timber, I would be considering an artificial product unless you want to do the maintenance. Cheers

I'd make sure I had probably 3 'zones' or options . It is just crying out for a big industrial style centrepiece on 3 or 4 heavy chains , maybe even with 15 or 20 candles . Just as I'm writing this , I'm even wondering how difficult it would be to get 15 shorter stubbier candles and drill out the middles , and thread a cheap 12 volt LED through each one ? The local electrical supplier charges something like $12 for 10 -- you'd have to wire them , but its low voltage so a soldering iron and heatshrink tubing would do wonders . look way more authentic than those cheesy ones with flickering 240 volt bulbs and fake melted wax on shiny plastic bases ! Anyway , that would be my centrepiece , even if you had to use a transformer etc -- drop it to the ceiling line height . Then I'd do a seperate zone -- probably single LED spotlights ( prob in black ) . at least one each beam , some pointing up , some across to the other 'slope' , but also some pointing downwards , because you'll need to look for dropped coins or handkerchiefs or phone chargers every now and then haha . And the 3rd zone would be wall uplights and downlights , because I can almost guarantee there will be times you want light , but you don't want or need to emphasis the height . If its not too late , I'd have them maybe 1.5mtrs from the floor , and the covers in an aged copper or similar panels , and that would match the style of the centrepiece light too . I'd have the spotlights a completely seperate style though -- more modern and plainer , but not ultra-modern , if that makes sense .