Now it's beginning to work! Luv the rug! A few more red showstoppers, and I luv the post about matting your family pic, and larger frame for it. Looks like you might be a bit uncomfortable with the great post idea of moving your sofa out into the room away from wall. If so, could you accept putting it diagonally from the entrance doorway, across that corner where it is, stopping at the edge of your window? That's a bit of a move outward, still can see the fp and tv, and show off your new rug, which could go diagonally in front of the sofa. Then, if you like that, after a while you could move it on out as Deb K suggests. Sometimes intermediate steps are more doable for us than those big changes.Same with painting; if you could first paint just the fp wall, then later paint other walls...seems some color would really make it more homey. Would you cosider a quite contemporary fixture for the light in the center ceiling? Maybe a bit of red could go there!

The chairs are a good match. Leather is probably best, great for kids' spills and accidents, but any fabric will do. Not sure on purple with green - those two colours together clash a bit for me. The green kitchen looks great, and I'm a fan of dark wood. The only thing throwing it off at the moment is the yellowish coloured walls. If they were repainted a soft white, this would make the green and the dark wood really pop, giving you a fresh and sophisticated, calm look which I think would work well. You could then upholster in a green to match the kitchen which would look appealing. Finish it off by some fresh white flowers as accents in the room to draw the eye and you've got a beautifully transformed space with a fabulous feature dining area :)

This is where the kitchen is going to be. Where my husband is will be counter top at that height. with a big wide counter top to sit under. on the back wall double door fridge a metre gap. 2 wall ovens then a sliding door where the ladder is. A scullery. Behind my husband to the side of him a sink the cooker then space. Where the big flat plank is on the ground (ish) will be the movable island. you can see a taster of the stone wall which will be on both sides of the entrance hallway, the flooring will look very similar to this http://carpetdiscounters.co.nz/product.aspx?product_id=441 . You may note the steel next to my husband on that side. it also needs to be treated. Thank you very much

I would wait for the rug, until you have the shutters up and your furniture placed..it may take on a character of its own and you'll want to compliment. My first thought though was to coordinate with your kitchen and incorporate some black, with a black/beige stripped rug, which would be fun with the wallpaper and perhaps paint your chairs black, add the shutters and you could paint the window trim black and add a large black chandelier.