Hi Anna, I used leather for the recovering. This made things easier as it stretches quite a bit and is very forgiving. I used one piece for the backs. I stapled one end of the fabric to the bottom edge of the back, then wrapped it around back to just over the staples, folded under the raw edge and used upholstery nails to secure.

Mona you have seen exactly the dilemmas I'm facing with this room so I really appreciate your comments. I was focusing on no1, but really 2 and 3 are on my mind too. In terms of getting some continuity between the rooms I was planning on recovering the dining chairs in a fabric to tone with cushions/throws on the white couch, ottomans in a matching tone, and pulling this colour scheme through into cushions in the formal lounge. I love the spring colours at the moment (greens, blues etc) which you can see i'm playing with at the moment but you might be able to see the painting in the formal room which is orange, red and yellow with a blue/purple base. So I'm very keen on colour and so tired of the brown carpet and neutral walls. I was also going to restain the dining table and chairs to a dark mahogany colour, and change the bar stools to something more modern. re: rug closer to sofa, I've done this and it looks off-balance with nothing else in the space. It seems to work better in the middle of the carpet area at the moment. Perhaps thats because I haven't ordered the ottomans yet. I don't want to add a coffee table to this room as prefer Ottoman to put feet up on. I've attached a pic of a rug, do you think something like this would work better? re the wall: yes this is the major for me at the moment. It is a TV room so tv and speakers stay and I wont be adding any custom cabinetry. The idea was to increase the space in this room by removing all of the cabinets and they are now in the adjoining room. The speaker covers have not been painted as I needed to work out what wall covering to apply, and colour etc. so once they are painted the wall colour they will blend in better. The idea of shelving has merit, I'll have to have a think more about that... Any other thoughts you have are appreciated.

Hi anne, that's what I was originally thinking, my issue is what colour I use for the 'pop' :) I keep coming back to a teal/turquoise colour (it's one of my favourite colours!!), I love blues, purples, teal/turquoise - many on here have suggested yellow but I'm really not sure about it. Here in New Zealand we're in Autumn, nearing Winter so uncertain about the yellow. I found these cushions that I've fallen in love it, and wondering how I could make these work.. do I try teal and mustard together, as an interior designer suggested?

The chairs are a good match. Leather is probably best, great for kids' spills and accidents, but any fabric will do. Not sure on purple with green - those two colours together clash a bit for me. The green kitchen looks great, and I'm a fan of dark wood. The only thing throwing it off at the moment is the yellowish coloured walls. If they were repainted a soft white, this would make the green and the dark wood really pop, giving you a fresh and sophisticated, calm look which I think would work well. You could then upholster in a green to match the kitchen which would look appealing. Finish it off by some fresh white flowers as accents in the room to draw the eye and you've got a beautifully transformed space with a fabulous feature dining area :)