Just bought our first house and we need a temporary fix for the next few years for 1) the lounge, 2) the kitchen, before I go back to work and we can play with two incomes.

We want to make the lounge feel more... well, less bland.

I originally considered painting the trim and huge doorway between lounge/dining white, but it represents a lot of work in the dining (and rest of the house to match it)... Any suggestions on how I could make the lounge a little more exciting? I was thinking paint/curtains... But I don't know what color! We can't afford re-carpeting YET (though I would just love to!). NB: None of this furniture is ours, so please disregard it. Our furniture is
also fairly irrelevant as we are going to buy a new couch to match
whatever we do to the lounge.

After we've played a bit in the lounge, we are looking to make the kitchen (colors, in particular) a bit more friendly - but on a serious budget - we can't re-do anything structural/tiles yet.