Like you said, you obviously have a light issue in the room due to the addition of the corner ceiling light and the need for sheers. Maybe paint the ceiling white. Definitely replace sheers with white plantation shutters and add your beautiful chosen pendant lights over the table. As the table is long maybe you can have the light above the window (and if there is a third one further along) moved in to have them over the table. If the pendant is very large have only one or two and remove the extra light/s altogether. You could also possibly add two wall sconces to the wall opposite the windows depending on the overall room. If you physically can't electrically fit lights on the walls now consider battery candles in the glass flutes. This would give lovely mood lighting. Have the white plantation shutters with no additional curtains but have a very large striped rug either the same red as in your photo with creamy beige to blend with lighter wall; or a light blue and white/ creamy beige rug. The light blue stripe would give a relaxed sense to the room. You may need to have these rugs made up. On the table, change to a larger silver tray and look to improving its content holders to silver and glass, light blue china and one low wide rounded fresh flower vase in silver. For dinner, remove your tall vase of roses and replace with a couple of large glass fluted candle holders with silver base rims with pillar candles either side of the tray. Best wishes.

That is a hard one with those tiles. I would have to think if you did a white, it would kind of work with the colour of your tiles. At the end of the day, they do need to be replaces, but as you said, due to budgeting reasons, you cannot, I can pass on this photo of a nice bathroom with those tiles for you though for inspiration... : )

Hi Barry, I personally don't think the large blank space lends itself to a piece of art. It's up too high and contrary to your thoughts, it wouldn't be the feature you'd hope for it to be. Besides, the money you spend on a piece large enough, would be better spent on a smaller, higher quality piece mounted at the correct height (eye-level) that would compliment another part of your home. Getting back to the blank space, have you considered using a timber veneer for the wall cabinets? Something that would work with your bench, and then you could use the same veneer as wall panels to continue above the blank space over the cupboards. Perhaps you could even incorporate led strip lighting to give it a little more wow factor. Timber is great because it adds a layer of warmth to the polished concrete and dark cabinets. Good luck, and keep us posted! Would love to see which way you go. Cheers, and have a great weekend. Steve

Rellish, did you have trouble getting matching grout and silicone? We're about to use the exact same tile in our bathroom. Also, did the tiler have any trouble due to the embossed pattern? Our builder thinks we need to install the tiles on top of the vanity as the tiles are not flat and it will be difficult to get a good, clean seal if the wall is tiled first.