I figured I would add a couple more pics. The living room is beside the kitchen so I suppose the colours should compliment the kitchen? I've also got lots of windows/natural light. Pls ignore the mess - I just moved in recently! Thanks!

Dark grey sounds good as long as it isn't too dark. It won't look black will it? Cream disappears against the wall.
I'm wondering why you don't put your coffee table and sofa on your rug? I looks as though you need to move everything forward about 10 feet or get a larger rug.
In the picture below you can see how the table and sofa sit on the rug. It's okay and looks better, not to have the sofa pushed against the wall.

My guess is that the TV was meant to go on the wall your sofa is on. The sofa should be turned 90 degrees to face the kitchen. Would you consider moving your rug to the eating area and getting a larger one for your living area? Let's see what fellow Houzzers say.

Thanks for the comments Marguire.

It's still early stages for me and the rug is probably too small for the room (though, moving the sofa forward is a good idea). The cable outlet is behind the sofa but I liked the idea of the sofa facing the fire place rather than off to the side or having the fire place behind the sofa. Moving it 90 degrees would cut off the area by the windows, no? I like having the open concept feel, though, I wouldn't mind possibly creating some separation.

The sofa wouldn't be so dark grey that it's black - more a charcoal grey but definitely not to be confused with black.

I'm a total interior designer newbie as you can see from the pics right now! Any advice from the Houzzers would be greatly appreciated!

I certainly can see the advantages of having the TV next to the FP the way you have it. Push it over away from the hearth just a bit would you? The grey sofa sounds modern and lovely.

I would go with the cream colored sofa. You have really dark floors, and I'm afraid your sofa would get lost.

I would turn the sofa to face the windows, and 90 degrees to the fireplace and put the TV where it was designed to go. I'm not fond of looking directly into a kitchen when I'm trying to relax. Open concept does NOT mean we have to be looking at the work area when we are trying to relax.

Looking at your space, I would go with the lighter color, cream. Grey doesn't look like it would suit what you have going here.

If the sofa is away from the walls, cream will be perfect as it will just pop on those floors. If the sofa is against the walls, I think it needs to be gray so it does not get lost with that wall color. So maybe decide on an arrangement and the color will then make sense.
Not sure what the view is outside those windows, but I would think it would be great to have the sofa face them. See you have a chair right there to look out, so go ahead and enjoy the windows. If you move the tv across from the fireplace, you might want to consider a larger console for it.

The plan is to mount the TV over the FP and have shelving to the side to hold the electronic equip odd to the side (or install a shelf above the FP). I'm starting an overhaul process (ie new furniture, colours etc) with the new place so am pretty open to ideas. I really appreciate all the comments thus far. I never really thought of some of your ideas. Definitely helpful and gives me something to think about!

Actually, it is a a sectional that I am looking at....

I love it!!!

Paint the feature wall either in the brown or burgundy ,it will pick up the rug as well ,you could go with a beige sofa ,

I would go with the grey sectional and a larger area rug.