Can anyone help with a little interior design? I have an (almost) blank canvas.

[cyanarasamba]

We've just moved into a modern house which had a large bright living room. I'd really appreciate some ideas to inject a bit of colour and style!

It has patio doors at one end, big window on the other and two small windows either side of the fireplace. Also a cream marble fireplace. The walls are magnolia. The carpet is cream. We already have a large cream sofa and armchair with a taupe floral design.

I am looking for a rug, fabric for curtains and blinds and cushions. Also maybe ideas for a feature wallpaper/painted wall.

My thoughts are:

• Paint feature wall taupe
• Chocolate/caramel rug
• Striped fabric for curtains/blinds - maybe including chocolate/taupe and teal/duck egg
• Pick out teal/duck egg for cushion colour

But to be honest I haven't a clue if this would work! I'm a bit shy of patterned fabric or paper as we already have the patterned sofa. Also there will be a lot of curtains and blinds in the room so nothing too dark or overwhelming.

Any help much appreciated!

I would repaint the whole room rather than have a feature wall & use a slightly darker neutral to replace the magnolia. What direction does the light come from?

I like Dulux Bleached Lichen 3 in a north facing room but it can look a bit too pinky in a sunny room... It would look good with the taupe on your sofa.

A light grey would look good too.

I would keep the curtains & blinds very plain, especially if you have to get them made to measure as they will be expensive to replace. As you have so many windows, blinds rather than curtains might be better.

Chocolate & duck egg go well together but that combination was very popular a few years ago so might look a bit dated now if that matters to you....

I would go for accents in bolder colours - I have teal & black in one room at the moment which go well with taupe. But just think about the colours you like yourself - what colours do you like to wear?

Hi Decorhate, thanks very much for your reply. Like the idea of getting rid of the magnolia altogether. The room faces north east, so we get the sun in the morning but gone by around lunchtime.

We have existing roman blinds on the small windows either side of the fireplace, then curtain rails on the other windows, so would probably keep this arrangement.

You're right that chocolate and duck egg may have had it's day, I do tend to be a bit of a late follower when it comes to trends. Teal and black sounds a little bold for me possibly. I like to wear deep reds, coral, pale blue and sea green.

Thinking of getting this rug - may be a little cheap and nasty but don't want to spend a fortune with having very small children to ruin things!

I think that Bleached Lichen would look good on your walls then but you would have to see how it goes with your cream sofa....

I think maybe stick with creams & taupes/browns for your big items like curtains, rugs, etc and then just get a couple of cushions and other small things (like vases, bowls) in an accent colour - maybe the seagreen that you like or something like a pinky red?