How would you decorate this room?

[thegraduand]

DH and I have no natural talent when it comes to interior decorating, we just don't really have the eye. Previously we have kept things very sage and neutral. We've now moved and have some great rooms to decorate but are struggling. The main room we are tackling is the lounge, things we see and like in the shop just look washed out when we get them to house. The room is 6mx7m, dual aspect, but still manages to be a bit dark, one side is all window and patio, but is east facing. The windows on the west side are small. So the room looks darker than it should. It has low ceilings. The room at the moment is all white, with a light oak floor, the furniture will be mainly oak.

We are struggling to work out how to do the walls and curtains. We looked at patterns like this, which we liked, but they looked washed out

curtains

and were looking at a pale duck egg striped wallpaper, but again it looked washed out.

I'm wondering whether to go for something like this

bolder but have no idea how i would do the walls.

Help!

Depends on the style of house I think. If it's modern then I am going to be not much help as I can't really ever visualise what will look good either!

But if it's 30s or something I can probably work with that

I like the second curtains, maybe paired with a cream coloured paint from the Dulux Light & Space range to make the room feel warm and some bright cushions in turquoise, pink and green.

Do you already have a carpet/sofas?

I like the second fabric too - have you seen sample in the room yet?

We have a dark room on the ground floor that feels a lot warmer and brighter once we put floor lamp on - some good lighting might help.

We used Dulux Apple White in kids' room which is north facing with one window, and pine floors. It is a very pale green, but somehow manages to make the room look quite warm and cosy, which I didn't expect - we tried a lot of more obviously 'warm' colours - creams and yellows etc. but they all looked dark and dingy.

Things that might help: plants, books (shelves), paintings/art, big mirror somewhere in the middle of the room to reflect light, interesting lamps - maybe a big bold lampshade? Rugs and cushions in a colour you like. A few things you like, on display.

Sorry I've not replied before, life getting in the way of mumsnetting

The house is early Victorian, but has been extended a lot over the years. This room has no period features and looks quite modern at the moment. I've found some lovely William Morris stuff for older parts of the house.

I've not seen the second fabric in the room. Hoping to do this weekend. I'd love to use acessories to brighten it, I'm just not very good at doing so,but maybe should use an interior designer on this.

Floor is staying light oak. Furtniture purchased so far is oak units and coffee table and a very large beige sofa. We are thinking of getting a couple of leather armchairs too