You have a lovely traditional looking home, and repainting it in today's fashionable, contemporary colours may look a bit odd. In addition you have that large expanse of terracotta red brickwork to the side, which you haven't mentioned, but will still impact on the appearance of the house from an angle. I would be looking at colour schemes that work with colours that you are not going to change such as the stone and brickwork. The scheme that you currently have complements the existing architecture, and there are other traditional schemes that will work, that aren't green and cream. As always the only way to assess the suitability of a colour is with samples. A professional can source A4 sized samples which will help you assess the suitability. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

m_walker5, just from the 2 photos so far it seems to me the main first improvement to that space would be to remove the wall to the kitchen, so you need to find out if this is loadbearing or not. Stick your head up through the ceiling manhole to see how the structure is framed. If it is fully framed (rafters, ceiling joists, struts bearing down on internal walls) chances are that that wall is loadbearing. On the other hand if it is gangnail trusses (triangular frames with W braces held together with metal nail-plates) you are in luck. These typically span between outside walls and internal walls can usually be changed or removed easily. This is your staring point for deciding how far you want to go with this depending on budget, and is the point where you should involve an architect/designer to work out a comprehensive renovation plan. I have just completed a very similar project where the renovation was urgent (kitchen cabinets were falling off the walls!) but the budget was greatly reduced as the owner unexpectedly lost one source of income. We managed to do a full kitchen renovation, remove walls to create larger open-plan spaces, full re-sand and polish of floors, full internal repaint, all for about $80,000.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Thanks everyone! Oklouise you are right, I never even considered the light we get from the door. I took notice this morning and it would be a shame to lose it. I did attempt to paint and tidy up the door a few weeks back but I feel like the colour is all wrong. It’s not bright enough. And I think I’ll have the glass replaced and frosted. Thanks lots of great ideas to work with here

This style of fireplace surround was common in the 1960s in many mid-century modern and post-war homes. It wasn't expensive then due to the cheap labour with lots of stone-masons immigrating from post-war Europe. There is a lot of skill and craftsmanship to get all of the irregular stones to fit together harmoniously. Poorer houses didn't have fancy stone fireplace surrounds, but exposed face brick, often to match the exterior or just the chimney. Today it is a very different story, with stone masonry a dying art, many of the stonemasons from the 1960s having since retired (or gone to the big stone quarry in the sky), and not many younger people taking up this trade. So today stonemasons who are skilled enough to do this type of work to this standard are rare and can charge what they like for their craftsmanship. It would be an act of vandalism to smother this craftsmanship in common render as it is a beautiful feature, and could never be re-instated. I would use it as a starting point to give your living room a cool mid-century modern vibe. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits