Greys would look good in these rooms. I wouldn't paint the paneling. Rather than a mirror over the fireplace a large scale painting would look good.

Much as I love wood blinds, in your case I would go with the white. I'm afraid the wood blinds would chop up this expanse of windows where as the white would give you a blank slate. You could always add color in roman shades, etc. (Love the flowering trees!)

Hi Ang, I thought I'd follow up my earlier comment with pictures of before and after of pine cupboards I specified to be painted in a budget makeover. My clients tell me people presumed they had purchased brand new cabinetry, so startling was the makeover. Somehow I have put the "after" on the left and "before" image on the right!

Hi Michelle - It looks like treated pine to me, and looks as though it has been recently built. If you did nothing it would fade to a grey colour within 6 months or so. This would probably blend in with the house quite well, and you wouldn't have to do a thing! Otherwise I would stain it - there are lots of stains on the market - see if there is one you like. A dark one would create a nice contrast with the house and make the fence look more like a feature. Good luck!