Now it's beginning to work! Luv the rug! A few more red showstoppers, and I luv the post about matting your family pic, and larger frame for it. Looks like you might be a bit uncomfortable with the great post idea of moving your sofa out into the room away from wall. If so, could you accept putting it diagonally from the entrance doorway, across that corner where it is, stopping at the edge of your window? That's a bit of a move outward, still can see the fp and tv, and show off your new rug, which could go diagonally in front of the sofa. Then, if you like that, after a while you could move it on out as Deb K suggests. Sometimes intermediate steps are more doable for us than those big changes.Same with painting; if you could first paint just the fp wall, then later paint other walls...seems some color would really make it more homey. Would you cosider a quite contemporary fixture for the light in the center ceiling? Maybe a bit of red could go there!

as a mum I agree worktop is priority, but also there's extreemly little cupboard storage so I would stick with the pantry cupboard and add a freestanding ikea Varde unit like attached pic ( I would have preferred integrated dishwasher too and a bit of moulding/ shape to the door style in a perfect world ) where's the fridge supposed to go?

Despite previous opinions I have to say this - DON'T GET DOWN LIGHTS!!!! We had them in our previous home. They were constantly blowing no matter what kind of bulb used. The casings kept breaking. This meant we couldn't just change the bulb ourselves. It drove me mental. They spotlight certain parts of a room instead of lighting the whole room so when one of our main "culprits" kept blowing in the kitchen, I had no lighting above that bench until we could get an electrician in. More than one electrician told us they are a serious fire hazard. I will never have them again!

The market is full of tropical/botanical art at the moment which lend themselves well to tropical or beachy looks. The look you are after calls for natural textures with a soft colour palette, think linen bedding and layer it up with throws and cushions for texture and pops of colour. In my opinion drapes are not a good option in your room as the ceiling slopes to just above your window at a certain point. This would dictate the height at which your drapes hang and, in this instance would be too low. To soften the windows, I would have a tall palm or Fiddle Leaf Fig tree in wicker basket. It also looks like you have the space for a chair.