Thanks for the great thoughts asquithoatley and Damien. I especially like the suggestions that I add a bit of colour and texture with cushions and lamps. I really favour a natural and organic palette, but having largely achieved that, the room just didn't seem to 'pop' in quite the way I'd hoped. Asquithoatley - are you able to give me a source for the red lamp? I really like it. It is funny you mention knitted pillows, as I just took up knitting for the first time in years and I did some for upstairs. They look really good. Maybe I'll get the knitting needles out again! And I'll start looking around at coffee tables. I think you are right. Thanks again to both of you. Isn't this site fantastic?

I saw an almost identical rug to your picture at Ikea last week, don't know how much though sorry. They also have a chunkier weave which is very nice - 2m x 3m for $150. You could buy 2 and lay them together for a very reasonable cost. I was wafting through Ikea in Brisbane but I am sure their stores all have the same/similar stock. Hope this helps.

Declaration - I am a rug business owner. The pros for having a rug - subfloor protection, noise suppression and atmosphere outweigh the cons - scratched floors (we all have a friend who comes for dinner and tips on their chair) noise (my kids constantly scrape the chairs) and cold bare atmosphere. Rugs complete rooms. Maybe the issue with young kids who are messy eaters could be the only reason you hold back. The issue relating to timber fading is another matter - timber floors darken with UV exposure, so your rug should always be moved around to make sure the fade lines are not obvious. Even if it just 10cm here and there to mix up the exposed area.

Lots of lovely inexpensive rugs on overstock.com and they ship to Australia. I have used them twice and rugs arrived in a week.