Hi, we recently moved into a 1950s home and about to tackle renovations.

We would like to keep a modern country look but are a little stuck on what to do with this wall with the fireplace.

This wall extends into the dining room. Both are small rooms so we do need to make the room look spacious.

The fire surround is sandstone and has been cleaned so appears slightly lighter than in this photo. We have taken the old hearth tiles off and made the hearth deeper and slightly wider however we can't decide what colour tiles to go on top or what colour to paint the mantle or the wall... We have beautiful rimu wood to frame the hearth around the edges.

We have chosen to go with a carpet that is between grey and beige and likely will have grey drapes on the windows (which looks like linen). So both are quite neutral colours.

I was thinking of painting this wall a dark navy or charcoal colour so the sandstone would stand out and the TV (which is now currently above the fireplace) would blend in, and have the other windows in a white shade.

However your thoughts and suggestions most welcome.

PS - this is a very old photo from the previous occupants so we don't have any of the shown furniture. We currently have beige/neutral coloured furniture.

The photographer would have been standing at the opposite wall so you are pretty much seeing the entire space.