Until they come out with a PAR20 CFL that looks half decent, I'm sticking with halogen. As a photographer and painter, I disagree that there is no noticeable difference between CFL's and halogen / ...

Also, r.e. painting the mantle being irreversible - it's fairly easy to strip nowadays - I just stripped my fireplace surround and mantle with peel-away. A dirty job but doable in a weekend.

I would paint the mantle white as suggested, as well as the brick surround and go with a nice fireplace screen. Make sure you clean the brick first with a degreaser as well as lay down a very high ...

"I like the media console - where's it from?" Maybe I should read a little bit more carefully. On the way to IKEA today!

I like the media console - where's it from?

Where did you get your sofa?

What about a corner desk? It would help the space feel larger and would definitely hide the clutter.

Thanks everyone for your responses. Very helpful. I think I may have confused everyone a bit - i didn't want to leave the walls white with natural wicker trim - I wanted to paint the walls AND trim...