Alex, I also was pleasantly surprised at the unanimity on this! Oakley, WRT comfort, we have sisal and seagrass rugs down already and since we're Floridians who are pretty used to bare footin', I doubt jute would be too uncomfortable. (PS hope you enjoy Wolf Hall as much as I did, and if you do be sure to go directly to Bring up the Bodies once you finish; it's the second of what will be a trilogy). As for the seagrass option, the reason I'm leaning toward jute is that I am trying to create that decorating idea of a neutral room w/texture to give it some interest. And jute definitely seems to have more pizazz in that department. OTOH the idea that jute sheds, collects dirt, and perhaps unravels easily gives me pause. We have 2 cats who have used the sisal and seagrass to scratch and those rugs are bulletproof. I certainly don't want to put something down that literally will be the first thing you see when coming into my living room,and then have it look shabby. At least I know that the size of the rug is will be no less than 9x12. I'll give the material decision awhile to percolate since the furniture won't be in for awhile and they aren't on sale anyway. Really appreciate everyone's great feedback-thank you all! Ann

Squirrel - I haven't given up on rattan or wicker-- I just won't start with a piece. The dining room has woven bamboo and rattan chairs-- so it would tie the two rooms together. I have been threatening to get the malabar chair from PB until I get chairs -- but that's a pretty big chair and would take the place of one of the other chairs. I do like it though. PC - yes, to antique a mirror properly, you have to oxidize the back. There are techniques you can do to the front though. I am not convinced that's the best look for the room.. but it is in my back pocket. I can definitely paint the lower half of the wall (it isn't clear in the photos but the staircase wall has a ledge part way up and then a wall that goes to the roof. I have height issues-- I couldn't do it myself. Greenthumb hahah.. well I don't know if its the rug or the mirror but SOMETHING is making my butt look big. I hadn't heard of mirror mate before you mentioned it here. I looked it up and wow, so cool. I like the idea but it's going to cost me a lot. I was thinking of getting some barnwood to make the frame-- but mirror mate is sure simple! Thanks for the idea.. I am going to mull it over. I go back to work next week (after a month off) so time is going to soon be more valuable than money so it may still be my best option. Thanks so much -- you have each given me such great ideas and encouragement. So what do you think? Keep the leather chair or return it? I do rather like it on the fireplace wall but I love the other chairs too. I am torn. (My 6 yo nephew told me I "better not" return the leather chair. He looooooves it ha)

tx2nc I love your blue walls! The rug is gorgeous but I agree w/ the others- too small. cottonpenny the two most recent ones were dcrugs and greatfallsdecoratorc but there are actually others I like better that I got rugs from last year- I will have to go back to my old records and find them. If you look at DCrugs, don't be put off by the prices. The most recent one, I put in an OBO for 1/2 of what it was listed for and they accepted. Every oriental in my house came from eBay. Regarding the chandelier dimensions- I don't know. I am away for the weekend but when I return tomorrow, I will get you the dimensions and details :) stinky-gardener, I am not a designer or architect. I am a writer and work in search engine optimization. I just really love decorating and design stuff! The house is new (well, we closed in April '12). There are pics of the rest of it here (http://stonepondhouse.blogspot.com) if anyone is interested and hasn't seen them :) We started w/ a basic floor plan from the builder and I added the conservatory, dog room and sun room, moved a bunch of other rooms around, took out an inside study and completely changed the structure of the kitchen. I designed all the cabinets and picked all the finishes, etc. (I actually made Photoshop mock-ups of the kitchen and all bathrooms and we worked from there and had some truly amazing people that were able to do exactly what I asked! The kitchen especially I think turned out JUST like the photoshop:

Yep next project is to address that to the best I can. Partner wants a big tv but they are an eyesore in general but I need to compromise on it :). I plan to get rid of the stand and paint the builts in white so will hopefully minimize the overall look. Would love to redo the whole wall, change out to the fireplace for a lower and wider electic fireplace and mount the tv directly above but that sounds expensive. Maybe in the future!