I raised 3 joeys and 2 cats on a Cavalier Bremworth pure wool carpet and never regretted it for one minute except for one colour choice. The living areas were in a deep brown which I would never recommend - as portpiro said, dark colours show every speck of fluff, dust, pet hair and anything else that comes into the house. The bedroom areas were an Arctic White and were so easy to keep clean - regular vacuuming and a deep clean annually or occasionally spot cleaning of any accidents. I had 40 years of wear from these carpets - probably won't get anything like that these days though. http://www.cavbrem.com.au/tools/products.aspx I think if you choose mid brown/grey colours in a tweed or a self pattern, you will find this does hide any stubborn marks, but with wool, I just didn't have any. I note now this firm has brought out a range of very nice looking carpet tiles. If these are easy to interchange, they could be very useful in bedrooms especially where only a small area of flooring gets wear while under beds and furniture stays pristine. I also found when replacing my carpet recently that nylons and synthetics were not necessarily that much cheaper than wool but although they are more stain proof, they do build up static electricity that will attract dirt and make the carpet much harder to clean. This is one carpet from their Turkestan range that I really liked for durability

I had a 2nd hand lovely resort style lounge (cane with fabric) which quickly became pulled and tatty after my 2 small dogs had been using it. The leather lounge & two large leather recliners I have show no damage (regardless of long or clipped nails) and both pets love these. Having a blanket the dogs know is theirs is a great idea especially with leather, as the initial cold feeling of leather means both dogs only want to be on the blanket.

Your house looks lovely, to fix your path, remove what is there at the moment, put down a layer of crushed rock, tamper it down until level, relay your pavers on top of this , you can gently tap with rubber mallet if any are a little uneven, spread your rocks back between pavers and to edge and it should be sturdy and fine, if you get the preparation (crushed rock and levelling) perfect to start with your path will do you well for many years

So I ve gone with grey pebbles next to the mulch and mixed white/grey round next to it, under the window. Am going to have a flower bed in the tree ring and a lawn where u see the loose soil. Does this look ok for now ? 1) I ll put pavers later here as the shop is out of paving sand. I can go dark gray pavers here but would oatmeal or cream look out of place (check 4 th pic ) ? Considering its next to red brick, mulch and neighbor s oatmeal driveway ? 2) I can get 600 *300 pavers. 3) As for plants, I am doing more in the backyard where i get a lot of sun. In the front, I ve got a succulent rockery, murraya hedges, tree flower ring. Could u recommend some bushy, shade loving plants I could use in pots next to the window ? Thanks.