Treating the sliding doors as a modern insertion and keeping the rest traditional could be striking. However, what does the house need from the interior? If it needs more light/views opening the house further with larger windows could be great too. An important detail for the sliding doors will be the casing (trim) - whether modern and intentionally different or matching the rest.

There is nothing worse than ceiling-mounted lights--harsh shadows, flat lighting. They are strictly for utility. I would put a large-ish, shallow cylindrical shade on them and put nothing more than a 15-watt bulb in them. Use them strictly for lighting your way as you walk through the room. I agree with Vincent; the chair in the corner doesn't fit at all, nor does the one under the A/C unit (put that one with its mate behind the love seat). And the curtains look smooshed. I think the problem with the bookcases is that they are uninteresting. Did you buy books-by-the-yard? What are all those identical books? They are visually uninteresting. I'd get rid of some of them and get some colorful ceramics/glass/photos. The room is absolutely overwhelmed with furniture. It needs one less love seat. Do you really need all of them? Pushing them against the walls/curtains so tightly just visually emphasizes the fact that there is too much furniture. I don't think a mirror above the fireplace will work. When people are sitting down (which is most of the time), all they will see is a reflection of the ceiling--the plain, white ceiling. Get some real art in there with some color.

What about colour , character and personality ? A splashback with a pond and a tree may be great , or look naff , as the Poms would say . Potentially , its on the right track , but look at pic 3 . Gone to sleep yet ? Probably $30k spent on nothingness . Now look at pic 3 , and imagine your splashback . Even if it is ( cringe ) black and white too , it will actually add to it . A bit . I don't like the particular light used in pic 1 , but its got character , you notice it , it is not totally bland . Pic 3 is .

Eh ? You want white or off-white or similar ? Your kitchen is white and off-white , with quite a light wood . And a nice red toaster . I have noticed the toaster , and commented on it . You have purchased the toaster . Other people will notice the toaster , and comment on it . Because it is the only mildly interesting thing in the kitchen . Dark grey doesn't sound interesting , but charcoal does , so I am hoping it is closer to charcoal than dark grey . Am I overly optimistic ? Can you swap the dark grey for black gloss , because I suspect black gloss subways would look quite good there , and tie in the oven and cooktop too . Now what would happen if you were stuck with the grey or charcoal , and went out and bought a dozen crisp white subways , and a dozen Red subways . Get your 30 or so charcoal subways , and lay them out in a rectangle on the floor . Take 6 out in a reasonably random way , and put white ones there . Then take out another 6 , and put red ones there . Depending on the grey/charcoal , it may look crap , or it may look okay . If it looks okay , put the dozen grey ones on the top , take a few more away , add more red and white . Overdone ? Underdone ? Have a play . Don't like it ? Get all the grey ones , and 'stand them up' ( lay them vertically ) . Lay a line of red ones horizontally across the top , another line of white ones horizontally across middle . Swap them . Don't like any of them ? Get some brownish Tavertine Tiles , or an Orange ( or red or yellow or citrus green or your favourite colour ) glass splashback . Experiment . Put the on the bench and imagine . Thats what I'd do anyway . But I wouldn't do only dark grey , and I probably wouldn't do charcoal on its own , but I'd see first .