I would paint the entire fireplace including the mantel, all trim and shelving white. I like the Whisper White, but you must bring the paint samples into the room to see for yourself. The sheen on all woodwork should be semi-gloss, easy cleaning and looks crisp. I agree with painting the walls and I would paint the part above the mantel the same color as the walls, Summer Hue is beautiful, but once again I have no idea how that would look in your room. The walls should be flat most brands make a fairly easy to clean flat. If the fireplace were the focal point of the room, it could look very cool and dramatic to paint it a very dark gray almost black. But at least in this picture it seems that the entertainment/shelving unit is the focal point. hmm .... better stop while I am ahead.

Hi Rasa, Nice to hear from you and I’m glad I was able to give you some inspiration for your kitchen tiles. I’ve included another image for you to look at that shows more of a farm house style kitchen with the coloured tiles. If you worried the coloured tiles might look too contemporary for your space, I would advise going for quite soft, muted colour tones to give you the same effect but in a more rustic style. You can see in the attached image how they have used a soft sheen, textured tile in neutral tones, with a subtle hint of colour to be in-keeping with that farmhouse feel. For your tile colours, you could pick up the off white tone of your cabinets with the grey in the granite, and a very soft hint of green or blue to add a little colour to achieve the same look for your kitchen. I have also added some paint swatches below you could use as reference for tile colours to help you visualise the combination. Off white: Greys: Blue or Green: Hopefully this answers your questions for you and I’d love to see some pictures when your project is finished. Good luck with the decorating. Paola Dulux Design Expert www.designer.duluxamazingspace.co.uk

I am an amateur lover of home decorating. I too have a very awkward long narrow living room that is 350cm by 620cm. Additionally it has diagonal traffic flow from the front entry to the rest of the flat. The owners have built a cabinet at one end for the TV, etc. I think I would make a cosy seating area at one end of your long living room. Place a grey or brown sofa at one end but not against the wall. I like the idea of a narrow console table behind the sofa with a table lamp, a plant or a large statue. This brings the end wall closer in. A peachy or raspberry carpet in front of the sofa will pick up the wall colour and anchor this seating area. (grey and some browns also coordinate with raspberry/peach). A couple of raspberry sofa cushions can help include the wall colour into your overall scheme. Single chairs opposite the sofa allows visual and actual flow down the narrow room and completes this seating area. At the other end of the long narrow living room I would place a reading chair, a floor lamp and a small round coffee table. If there is room you could have a tall bookshelf with you favourite books. What do you have on the long side walls? I have windows and doorways on both long sides. I decided to use pull up shades on the windows instead of curtains which I thought would make my narrow living room look more narrow. The wall colour is white but I think I will tone it down to a soft grey. I plan to paint the end walls a darker grey.

I love dark shades but from my experience oil stains on a dark shaded cabinets in kitchen specifically are more prominent.