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.

We took out a very .70's archway (the whole wall) between our lounge and dining area and replaced it with bookshelves & doorway with shelves over the top. It got our books out of boxes & off the floor & has been the envy of many visitors over the years. When we did it, we 'screwed' everything so a future owner could remove some cornice & unscrew the bookcases & have open plan or even put an arch back. We love our books and it's our family who has to live with it - not others....so relaxing.

the plants on the back fence will give good impact once grown. The rug is more of a pain. This would be a cleaners nightmare. Gives the area impact but not a suitable design choice near a pool. The mirror looks good but near a bbq you are always going to have to wipe the grease from off the mirror. The plant will also have to be removed once you start cooking. The chair is to close to the bbq and the fridge. So this would have to be moved to be able to work in this area or open the bar fridge fully. I do not mine any of the furniture but not a suitable out come for the area where the design seems not to be workable. Vision is important but design area must also be hassle free.

Hi Terri So glad you found our advice for your living room helpful. Here are a few tips to instantly modernise your dining space, without having to replace your dining set: 1) From what I can see, the combination of furniture and artwork you currently have in your dining area, can potentially make this space appear smaller than I think it actually is. Also, the combination of darker colours and timber in a medium size space tend to absorb the light, where lighter colours help reflect the light and make a space feel more vibrant and spacious. Replacing the current artwork with something lighter and brighter, will instantly enhance this space. The 'Orange Blossom' canvas with a timber look shadow box frame from Urban Road is lighter and will match all the colours of your dining table, chairs, wall and even rug. ->Urban Road 2) Another easy thing to do is get a neutral colour runner for your dining table to break the solid timber look. This one from Freedom 'Noya table runner' will work well ->Freedom runner 3) Adding 3 large vases placed on the runner to match the colours of the artwork will help add interest to the space. These rustic vases from Temple and Webster -> Tall Vases for example will do just that. 4) Last but not least, adding a large potted plant will immediately liven up a room. If you don't have time to maintain a live plant, go for the synthetic option. Freedom has a great selection of larger plants, and these days you can get synthetic plants that look exactly like the real thing. Put them all together and you will have a beautiful space to enjoy :-)