Yes, rake the needles (and gravel) onto the path, before improving the soil, and periodically during the off-season for the flowering plants. They tend to restrict growth and do not add to the appearance of the foliage or flowers, don't you agree? Not sure what does well in your area, but here's a list to take to your garden center that might brighten your day, and cover the ground. Cotoneaster dammeri, Juniperus conferta 'Blue Pacific", Euonymus fortunei 'Coloratus", Asperula odorata, Dianthus gratianopolitanus "Bath's Pink", Adiantum pedatum, Ophiopogon japonicus, Parthenocissus tricuspidata or quinquefolia (I forget which one climbs up the trees, but get the other one), Most of the above will do well in any pH soil, so don't be afraid to sweeten it, if advised to locally. I would not plant all these together, but you have plenty of room to match up good companions in each area. Some, like the junipers like a little more sun to make you smile. That should get you started in covering the ground. The local folks will be eager to sweeten the list, I am sure. Enjoy the process. Involve your family and friends. Nobody does it alone.

Hi M Tranter, we just finished our Blue Ivy house in Malvern, although more contemporary in style, we went bold with the blue in a very similar shade to yours! We actually fine-tuned the shade on site, as the blues will appear different depending on orientation and light. We never worry about 'trends' but choose material and colour palettes to suit each client, and the bold colours always balance out with the other elements in the space. Good Luck (and go for it!).

We installed a feature wall of tiles in our bathroom of a similar pale blue-green colour to your examples. The closest dulux colour I came across was dewpoint. (Not quite close enough to be painted alongside the tile so we went with white for the non-tiled portion of wall so I can't show you a sample of it painted but might be worth looking at).

Hi again everyone and thanks again for all your suggestions re my chairs. So to update....7 months later I finally have my chairs back (between the polisher and the upholsterer it took much longer than anticipated). I ended up choosing a textured blue velvet, not a navy but a mottled royal blue similar to my little painted bookshelf. Im glad I did as the frames turned out darker and much more orange tinted than I wanted so thankfully the blue fabric tones the orange down somewhat (the polisher was supposed to do a test patch first for us to see...but annoyingly didnt and just went ahead and finished them before we'd confirmed the timber colour was okay to proceed with) Bur overall Im pleased with the result as I didnt want to be TOO safe and thankfully the textured fabric does not look like a solid plain colour - I ended up ruling out any patterned fabric as although I did get some patterned fabric samples I felt they just didnt really work with the rest of the patterns or decor in this area, or do justice to the chairs, and I find the blue chairs with the blue cabinet create an interesting little colourful 'nook' (especially when teamed with my old persian rug) in an otherwise very neutral coloured, large airy space that compliments and brings together the splashes of blue and the similar coloured full-room sized persian rug in the opposite part of this open plan living/dining room. Also my vintage Liberty fabric cushions which I was adamant on using compliment the colour perfectly, so thats a win! But thanks again everyone for all the helpful comments