Crow's bicycle consolidation - 1x light tourer

So, after lurking for many months I have a project of my own and I'm in need of a little advice.

I've got a 2007 Dawes Galaxy just sitting at my parents house. It's in great nick has been with me from Lands End to John 'o Groats and from Geneva to Venice and has sat untouched since the end of summer 2007. It is completely stock apart from the pedals. That was what got me hooked on cycling. I then bought a road bike which I have upgraded and eventually completely replaced since and a Pompino that I used to use to commute in an old job.

Here's the plan:
Strip down all three and build up just the one as a light tourer/do it all bike. This would not only ease space in our tiny shed but also free up space in my cluttered mind. It'll be based around the galaxy frame with probably just low riders and a bar bag type thing up front.

The main two questions I have at the moment are these:

• Gearing - It currently has the stock Deore groupset and I would like to go to a 1x setup - Is this feasible (and will it offer any advantage over what's there already) or am I being stupid. Secondly, I had toyed with the idea of moving to a Sram 1x setup (not CX1 but a rival bodge job just to allow me to have a brifter) - is there any advantage to this at all?
  
• Cosmetics - I have enough bits to build the galaxy up with chromey bits or black ones - I can't work out which would look best on a frame this colour!
  
  

Lastly, inspiration is this:

Any input greatly appreciated!

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