I am not poor, but I have been poor. I also always liked beautiful things. With the exception of sofas, I ALWAYS have accepted with great pleasure hand-me-downs of very good quality or Craigs list kinds of things--acquaint yourself with the best names in furniture in the last 50 years, and look for those names when you are on Ebay or CL. Think of Downtown Abbey: Do you think these aristocrats bought new furniture? No--they used their Oriental rugs until you could read through them--so if it is good enough for European aristocrats, it's good enough for me. Never buy junk. And when you buy a good sofa, it can last for decades with just re-upholstery every 20 years or so. Really. I'm sitting in my family room. The only thing bought new (many (about 30) years ago) are two upholstered chairs and a sofa, both Henredon, reupholstered several times. Big Baker chair re-upholstered, from Ebay. Clarence House Chintz for about $13 a yard, from an online discount company. Round Hepplewhite leather topped table thrown out by my mother-in-law because it had a cracked leg. My carpenter fixed it. French armless chair, thrown out by my sister-in-law, reupholstered. Black and gilt coffee table, bought on Craigs List. Oriental rug--big, beautiful--bought on Ebay, cheap. I don't mean my taste need be your taste, but you'll find beautiful things that others don't need. Pretend you are inheriting things from your rich family. Put things together little by little as you acquire them and it will create a very organic, interesting room. I second what Tibbrix said above: Let the children eat in the kitchen or dining room. Let them learn to respect your things.

Are you saying light comes from the north until late in the day, or are you saying there is a window facing north and a window facing west.? The reason I ask is that light that enters from a north-facing window is bluer and lacks intensity. Subtle color is washed out to gray. The Inchyra Blue is very dark, looking more charcoal with a green tone to me. I would choose the Cooks Blue. Here is a comparison I put together of those two colors with some blues from your rug.While the actual colors may be off due to how color can vary from monitor to monitor Cooks Blue is brighter and won't fade as much in northern light. Also, having a brighter blue on the walls should bring out the blue in your rug. The only way to know how it looks in your room is to buy a sample and paint a board as you did for other colors. Keep in mind that the color temperature of light bulbs you use will also affect the colors of your walls and furnishings. Color Temperature is expressed as Kelvin but is not a measure of heat. Warm-white bulbs have a color temp of 2700K which is kind to skin tones but gives a yellow light. Daylight bulbs have color temperature of 5000K to 6500K, but are harsh to skin tones and emit a blue-white light. Both CFL and LED bulbs come in various color temperatures. I recommend you choose bulbs with color temperature between 3500K and 4500K for a more neutral result. HERE is a photo of how different K-value lighting affects the appearance of color. You might have to visit a lighting store or light bulb specialty store to find neutral white bulbs. As to ceiling colors, people seldom look up. Unless your light fixtures are dramatic or the ceiling color is distinct I doubt anyone will notice if two adjacent rooms have different ceiling colors as long as there is a Framed Passageway between them.

With regards to a rug: I too had that same dingy beigey/brown carpet in my last home, and since re-carpeting or redoing the flooring was not on the priority list of home improvements, I went the rug route. At first I got a cheap acrylic rug and it buckled and the folds stayed, the plastic of the rug basically took on the folded shape. Then, one day while I was not even shopping for a rug, I found a gorgeous all wool Persian rug on super sale. With that rug, I had less buckling, but still some. I had to hang it a couple times a year to smooth out the folds, and I was constantly straightening it. I still have it doing the same duty in our new place. But it is very pretty and most of the time it is an asset. Weekly rug straightening is part of our routine. I tried a lot of things to keep the rug in place too, a pad and tacks. They didn't stop the buckling. But a wool rug will straighten out and pop back into shape fairly easily. Your room looks good and that furniture looks comfy. I would just look for bolder more colorful art. Tie in the red/black/cream color scheme or go with some new colors for pillows, lampshades and art, if you are tired of the other scheme.

hollybar, The long wall that goes from kitchen to living room is a dark sand/beige/clay color, no idea what to call it. This wall is oposite that and is pink. Its only half the wall though, underneath are white tiles with a small size fridge and freezer against the tiles. Next to it a white wall with shelves for plates and some storage jars. On the right side from that is the kitchen window with also a white wall and tiles. The dining table is green and the shelves are the same pink as that wall in the picture above. The other furniture is this green hutch (thats old and from family so I want to keep that as is, no other color) and this Ikea retro style side table. It's difficult to take some overview pictures of the room as it is messy now. There is a tredmill in the room that should go in a room upstairs but havent had a chance to put it there yet. So I could have some space to paint, everything in the room was moved out of the way ;) I am not determined to replace the chairs but since they are cheap plastic I dont know if they will look good, even with cushions on them. But if they would then I'll definately keep them. I've replaced the mirror with a painting I already had. It has similar colors but the painting is far too small for the space. But it already improves it over the big mirror :D