Help with living room

[vestanesta]

I have no decorating skills. It's a long room - living room at front, dining at back. There is a conservatory on the back which has a solid roof and there are no windows down the side, just at the front. North facing So it's a bit dark but not too bad.

It's a browny wet plaster colour and I hate it. All the furniture needs replacing (it's 10 year old cheap IKEA which has gone through the toddler and primary years). It needs carpet. The bay at the front is weird - it's square and slightly off centre. It needs some privacy - blinds or something as you can see in from the main road.

DH favours very neutral, practical and frankly quite old fashioned. He wants dark carpet because he thinks it hides the dirt. 2 teen dds who have views. I tend to the pale and calm.

My furniture budget is IKEA/dfs/cheaper John Lewis and I need to buy dining stuff, sofa/arm chairs/quite a bit of storage.

So it's a blank canvas. Too blank. And I have no skills/taste. And dh hates decorating (he's very good at it but hates the disruption/mess).

Any ideas?

What will the room be used for?

Light walls as it's dark

Go on Pinterest, etc for ideas!

We have a long reception room that includes an extension added by a previous owner. One end is very bright, the other (windowless) very dark.

DH wanted to put our dining table at the light-filled end with the sofas at the other - his argument being that he likes to watch TV in a cosy space without too much light bouncing around. However, I convinced him that we should do the opposite as I hated sitting in a dark space during the day, for example if i wanted to read. As a result we have a lovely, bright sitting area that is welcoming in daytime and still cosy at night, whilst our dining table is in the darker, more atmospheric end - perfect for when we use it most...evening meals as we tend to eat breakfast/lunch in the kitchen.

Rather than choosing a light colour emulsion (the previous owners had the space painted an awful lemony colour that just looked dingy), we embraced the dark, choosing F&B Olive for both ends. We've added lots of pops of bright colours - that give us the eclectic vibe we prefer - in the form of rugs, accessories including art etc and now we love the whole space.