Shutters sound like they would be a great addition to your new almost at the beach house. Is it an open concept? If so while you can change things up a bit you'll want to repeat some element and ensure that everything looks great together. Even the rooms you're thinking of putting drapes in might benefit from shutters or wood blinds for both looks and light/privacy control. Also be aware of how these windows will look from the outside. When choosing fabrics look at your existing furniture for inspiration or a piece of existing art or if buying new furniture think about the windows as you do. Everything in the room ties into each other. Ideally you would have swatches and samples of every finish in the room from flooring to window coverings and everything in between including wall colour, area rugs, bedding ect to help make your final decisions easier.

Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!

Yes, the brown wall is actually deep purple (aubergine). The carpet is more dark grey than brown. It is not a commercial place, but a large family home, and all the extra chairs are around because we were about to have 22 in for dinner, so the table was fully extended to it's 6metres! (The lounge is totally separate to this room, this is family space, so has the old sofas for sacking out on) But I really appreciate all suggestions and comments as it would be good to pull it together, even when entertaining so many. Cheers!

I grew up with these panel doors and remember the glorious day they were replaced by a curtain. So if you are open to the idea, for ease of use, least effort and cost that's a simple fix that your daughter may want herself. The top cabinet doors can be considered a cornice for the drapes, and can be upholstered, maybe in the same fabric as her window curtains, and a simple drape with coordinating stripe on the bottom. Search "upholstered doors" on Houzz, and you will see ideas for nailhead trim, tufting, etc as well. You may also be able to add thin trim molding in a custom design to make them special. Good luck!