I'm a fan of wooden floorboards throughout, with rugs on the wood, but there's nothing wrong with wood in the public areas and carpet in the bedrooms. It's a pretty common compromise.

Polished boards throughout are easy to look after. Many natural & environmentally friendly oil finishes available so aim for those. Carpet in bedrooms are nice underfoot. There are some relatively sustainable floor coverings available so worthwhile looking into those as well.

hi I have just changed my bedroom to or will be carpet we had floor boards and we are going to re use them in the kitchen and having carpet in the bedrooms taking the floor boards up putting chipboard then carpet I think it will be much warmer and feel cosy I like the look of boards with rugs but they get dusty and you need to mop them not so easy to keep clean

Thanks everyone for the comments. Very helpful. I think I will go with polished floors through kitchen, dining and living area, with a lovely NZ wool carpet in the bedrooms for cosy warmth. The fur factory extraordinaire is not allowed in the bedrooms so not too much of a problem.....BTW...his fur is so bad it has filled in the gaps between my decking timber so now it floods when it rains !

Hahaha...he's a big lab x

Well you can't go past pure NZ wool carpet, I have it right through my home and wouldn't have anything else. It isn't just cozy it is quiet too and to me that makes a home far more restful.

Sanded and polished timber floors have a evergreen classic appeal that never goes out of fashion. Carpet and other floor coverings do have a tendency to have a style that is relevant to a particular period in time. Have you ever walked into a home and thought the carpet, lino or tiles were from the 60s, 70s or 80s? Natural timber floors never date and you can easily update the look of your home with warming floor rugs and furnishings. Carpeted homes may pose problems for Asthmatics and those that suffer from allergies. There are a few environmentally friendly coatings available if you do choose to sand and polish your floors. This link will offer some insight into your floor coating options.

http://budgetfloorsanding.com.au/timber-floor-finishes/

All the best with making your decision

I'm a big fan of the way rugs look on polished floors - plus, stains are easier to wipe up from polished floorboards than they are from carpets.

I'm team polished floors! Easier to clean, plus you get to change the looks of your place with different floor mats and rugs whenever you want to :)

Polished!! With dogs, it's SO MUCH EASIER to clean!