Em - sorry you got pounded with our latest sales lurker. Real designers and gifted hobbyists want to help you here. The color in your art over the fire could be your inspiration for color accents, and I do think that full length panels on the windows might be a good start to help it feel warmer this winter. I wouldn't expend money on blinds, only drapery panels but you understand your privacy situation better than I. Run the curtain hardware well past the window, so when the sun is out your panels can stack back to the sides. What do you think about adding some blue-greens? If we get a muted enough one, it will be lovely on the walls with the mantel wood tones and should harmonize well with all the neutral upholstery, wood floor and rug., as well as deal with the gray stone and silver fun ball well. The sofa wants to breathe a little away from the wall I think as well. A narrow end piece there (maybe a yard sale find that you paint a deeper shade?) and shifting the rug away from the wall will help the room itself feel bigger because everything won't be tight to the corners. Something like this for the walls - ben moore wythe blue http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/wytheblue#ce_s=wythe and for the end table piece - bm azores http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/azores the deeper tone for a furniture piece that needs some camoflauge . .you can then add curtain panels in a neutral that works with the sofa upholstery tone. I see you have somelovely fine art - Van Gogh will always outpace the rest. A simple wood frame can be stained to match the gorgeous wood on the mantel piece. Your home has some lovely detailing. Might I suggest you drop the art over the fireplace about 12" and layer one additional piece leaning on the mantel? The starry night piece also needs a frame and perhaps a different wall paired with the earth chart for contrast and whimsy - you can alway mount something like that with spray adhesive to a painted heavy cardboard or frame it in a much larger frame with a custom cut mat. If I were adding a third neutral here with the suggested blue green I would play off the gray slate of the fire and use charcoal. Charcoal, cream, pale wythe blue-green . . then the art will bring the color in.

Do you want a beach theme because of the refreshing feeling? The calm? The relaxing nature? Defining this will help you to make decisions. Find a picture of an ocean scene that you are drawn to and print that out and use it as inspiration. See example here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/101542166573196260/ Beach themes tend to be lighter, but you can work with your darker furniture and your current curtains. Consider adding colors like whites (colors of shells), tans (sand color), blues (aqua like sea or light like the sky). Also you can create the FEEL of the beach without using shells and shell prints. See here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/389702173979896669/ and refer back to your inspiration picture for color and texture ideas. Consider working with what you have for now. Adding cushion covers, plants and flowers. Above, Sian has provided some good images for inspiration. Also see this one for dinning chairs with white covers: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/403001866625446214/ or painting chairs white: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/24629129187661902/ Artwork: lower your current artwork so they are somewhere between 57 and 63 inches on center try it out and see what feels best for you. Lastly, I am not sure how your usually use your living space, but consider rearranging your furniture. Pulling it away from the walls and create conversational setting. You can put your entertainment center against a wall and open up access to your kitchen bar and get bar stools (in white or wicker or a fun color). See here for seating layout ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/222013456605572141/ and https://www.pinterest.com/pin/446841594251073283/ with seating facing each other, pulled away from the wall. Hope this helps. Have fun with your space! be wonderful

I would consider getting a corner/modular sofa and putting it in the bottom, left corner of the lounge room. I would put the TV on the shared wall between the lounge and kitchen, but with a "swivel" arm so that you can angle it when watching TV from the sofa. I know that the sofa will partially "block" two big windows, but I'm not sure the viewing distance is ideal if you have the sofa opposite the TV and this also means that you are left with a bit of dead space at the other end of the room while the "entrance" is very crowded. Alternatively, depending upon how you view TV, I would consider having two sofas opposite one another and placing the TV on the far wall between the two big windows where the console and painting is now. Of course, to view the TV you would then need to lie back on the sofas and if more than two people want to watch TV at the same time, then they would need to sit on the floor in front of the TV. Good luck. It's a tricky layout!

I'd have a look at the IKEA room layouts in their catalogue or online. You don't need to use their furniture to "borrow" their layout ideas.