Pale blue looks so beautiful when it's paired with brown! You could try adding this nice hue in accent pieces like throw pillows or table lamps to see how you like it.

I think blue would be nice, here is a colour palette you could possibly work with
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/234750199299989502/

Remove all the too-tiny pictures on the walls & buy a decent-sized painting to go over the couch.

Remove everything from the mantel - Remove everything from the floor in front of the fireplace.

Find some throw pillows that include brown & some of the colors from the painting.

Put a taller, round, draped end table beside the couch with a lamp on it.

You could start by adding an area rug with a cool pattern. You could do orange, yellow and brown looks nice as well. I would take away all the tiny pictures behind and put an art piece or a nice gallery.

I would suggest that you get wallpaper to add a little texture. Checkout http://www.grahambrown.com/uk/ for great wall paper designs and patterns. I would also suggest that you add bright colorful pillows instead of brown. Some suggestions:

Very pale tan walls, soft black door and fireplace, navy and cream pillows, less small items replaced by larger ones and a geometric patterned rug as in the photo with the sectional sofa a round ottoman as submitted by Vintage Maya.

You may not have the money for a new couch, but the pillows on the couch can be recovered in a zillion choices. Pale blue with brown is lovely. You can get someone to sew new pillow covers for you for very little and it will bring the sofa into your new scheme. Your end table is too low. Get one that comes to the level of the arm on the sofa. The floor lamp is squeezed into the corner. Get a table lamp for your new table.

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And, yes, remove all the little stuff. This is a small room, right? More stuff, the smaller it feels. Pare it down. Take down the small pictures. Maybe you can group them together on one wall. Give us pics that can clue us in as to the shape of the room and where things can be moved.

You could even go with blue on the walls.

But first pare down, then get some attractive lighting. A wallpaper accent isn't going to do a thing for the room unless the arrangement, light and functionality are good first.

I think some white/cream furniture would lighten up the space. Think about what you want to put with the blue, silver, cream?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/175226331/white-petite-french-provincial-round-end?ref=sr_gallery_24&ga_search_query=white+end+table&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=5&ga_search_type=all

Thanks oneofeleven those are the exact colours I would love to use!

Agree with all the comments about there being too much 'stuff' but I guess I feel like it makes it homely as opposed to a show home. Definitely agree about the pictures above the couch and the table and will do something about those.

Thanks sfigu16. Agree with the colours you recommend but I already have a lot of those colours elsewhere in my house and I like to keep all of my rooms a different colour.

Vintage maya thanks for the link they have some really lovely stuff. I love this style and colour of wallpaper but do you think it would go with the sofa if I made other changes to the room? When I say I can't afford a new sofa I can't really afford new furniture full stop unless it's a smaller item like a coffee table. I have a lot of friends who are artists so luckily artwork shouldn't be a problem! I'd love to know if you think the wallpaper would work or if you have a better recommendation?

Hi Ramona. I like the idea of the white furniture. Perhaps I could paint my coffee table? Do you think white furniture would work with the black marble in the fireplace? I can't change that either...

Is your sofa up against the front door? Do you have two sofas? Looks a little crowded if I'm reading the photos correctly. May need to do some rearranging.

Also, Amazon is a good source for decorative pillow covers.

Hi Colonialgp. My room is small and pretty much square. One on wall I have a sofa and next to it a door which leads to the hall/entrance. The wall to the right of this has a large window, radiator and in the corner my tv unit. To the left of this (the wall you see when you enter through the hall) there is a wall with my chimney breast and fire place. The fourth wall has a sofa and a door which leads into my kitchen. I can see what you're saying about two sofas being a lot for a small room but I need space for us all to sit :(