A living room this pared back can take one serious warm brown. The scene does the heavy lifting: two waiting glasses, a dish of olives, a spent rose and a pair of black gloves left mid-evening. Hang it above a sideboard, a drinks trolley or a low bookcase, where the eye lands at sitting height and the story reads properly. It plays well with tan leather, velvet, dark timber and brass, and it warms up a room with grey-green or off-white walls. Keep the wall around it clear busy patterned wallpaper or a crowded shelf of ornaments will fight the loose brushwork. As canvas the thick paint marks read as real texture from across the room.