I have two dogs and they both live and play inside. At one stage we had three. Our floors look no more worn than the day I oiled then 6 years ago. We will be selling in around a year and at that time I may rotary with a white pad (never need to sand again)but really there is no need. After 30 years of fixing timber issues, it breaks my heart to see such a beautiful substance treated with a toxic plastic bag. This is our puppy the other day with a sore foot.

Did you decide which timber to use. Carpet squares work well just make sure the over locked edge isn't too tight as it will cause the carpet to curl up, you can also use sisal the same way which you can take outside and hose down. With your table and chairs on timber it's all a bit timber and would be an idea to just keep the two carver chairs at the end of the table and introduce some other chairs to soften the setting, could also be better chairs for little ones to sit in.

Depends on budget. Many dwellings (probably majority actually) don't setdown the floor structure to end up with a flat floor throughout. It costs extra money to achieve for something that is to most people un-noticable. High quality dwellings do this all the time however. If you're going to that level of detail you should also look at setting down the floor edge where the sliding/stacking/bifold doors are (if you have them) so that the door sill is flush. This something you'll see continuously more often than the bathroom/ens floors. It was mentioned on 'The Block' recently and I've now had numerous clients asking about it and/or presuming that this how all floors are done.

I think a light colour which will brighten up your room. Blackbutt perhaps? We have Blackbutt in our house and a manufactured oak in our holiday house. Both are light any really lift the room.