Stanton, Mashland, Karastan (higher end) are wonderful products, and I would go wool. However, Smart Strand is a good medium priced option. Agree with Elizabeth B…the padding makes a huge difference. I always recommend SmartStep. It has a waterproof barrier which keeps spills (and other liquids…(woof, woof) from seeping into the pad. Ever tried to remove a stain from a rug, think you have accomplished it and two days later it is back? It is because the culprit is in the pad and not the rug. If. the pad needs to be seemed, have the seem duct taped or as I have always called the product DuckTape.

Their rug was too small for the way it's being used. As stated above it could be used to delineate a second seating area. How will you use the space? If TV viewing is the focal then orientate it away from the fireplace. I see no decent way for a TV to compete with that fireplace. The one pic is horrid, makes the TV looks LARGER than it is. The swags have to go. I love a curtain panel so see leaving them...but most are sticking to the cold, sterile just blinds look if you want to be 'up to date'. It sort of looks to me like the back half was designed to be a dining room. Do you need that? A games table would be super fun if this is more of a casual living space. It really appears two couples lived here. The first decorated a space then the TV/movie watchers/gamers moved in with their theatre seating. The room is rather schizophrenic.

Oregonder, we are now on our third Miele in less than a year bc of bitumen. What they told you is not accurate, unfortunately. The steel housing does not enclose the bitumen. It's open, simply gives the unit structure under the cabinet, and the hot bitumen odors are as prominent as the other brands are reported to be. You can best see the steel housing on the right side of the above photo. The steel housing is not sealed to the underside of the counter top. The bitumen on the top isn't enclosed either. See in the following picture there is a gap there under the counter. On the two sides, there is a long gasket that isn't meant to seal or keep odors in. And even if all of these places above were somehow sealable, there wouldn't be a way to seal the bottom simply bc the door must open. That area is wide open to and with air circulating freely from the top, back, and both sides of the dishwasher. That's our wooden kick plate above the floor. A black plastic one of the same size comes with the dishwasher and wouldn't keep the odors in either. We've asked each installer and each Miele service guy about possibly sealing it somehow. They all say the heat would damage the inner cabinet areas and back wall surrounding the dishwasher. It all has to breathe. They also pointed out, even if you could seal the other areas, the odor would still come out around the bottom bc that still needs to be able to open and close. Ooh, and the back is open, which also has black rubber hoses which adds hot rubber smell for quite some time after installation...in addition to the different bitumen asphalt smell. I wish I could give you better news for your WD. You are so right to question the explanation they gave you. Unfortunately, the info Miele gave you is incorrectly optimistic about encasing any odors. We've found these Miele to match the awful odor stories of all the other brands. The only good thing is they've been willing to work with us every step of the way, but haven't been able to back it all up with usable products for our situation.

I'm not sure I understand the space either even with the sketches. Why? Because you have a massive amount of brown leather seating occupying nearly all the actual and visual space. How many people need to be seated to watch TV on a regular basis? You don't need to lay out family space as if every day is Superbowl Sunday. Please do not even think of having a sofa in the kitchen! You should rehome one of the recliner pairs and the armchair. Sorry, but that's what should be done. Here's what I suggest: --Dining table goes into the room with the fireplace. Paint over that green accent wall with the same cream paint as the living room. Go for lightness, openess, and flow to connect your spaces--family/dining room, living room, kitchen. You haven't shown us your dining furniture, but I would suggest getting light gold or ivory, not too tall, upholstered seating--a couple of dining armchairs that you can pull into the living room on Superbowl Sundays and put back at the dining table after entertaining. The ivory will echo the trim on your rug. That green just screams. Perhaps it goes with a rug there, but since you didn't share that space, it hard to give color advice. It clashes with the living room rug, which is viewable from all your space. You want colors to echo each other even if they don't match. Every piece needs to connect. Dining chairs like these, only in ivory or gold could get double use in the living room as needed when you entertain. --Your massive sofas in the living room area break up smooth visual lines, A dark accent wall would help make the black TV screen blend into the wall where you have it now. Keep the longest sofa on the wall where you have it. Put the double recliner pair in front of the windows, but leave about three feet behind the recliners to pull in maximum light from the windows. Or the reverse: recliners against the wall and long sofa pulled several feet into the room from the window for TV watching. --Get a big round coffee table, a nesting one would be great, up on substantial legs with a light top to balance out the sofas. --Drapes in a nubby ivory fabric should match the walls so the focus is on the windows and not another color block that breaks up the look of the space. Sofa pillows should be in ivory and gold with just a bit of red. You already have an excess of saturated colors. This palette and with some pattern woven into substantial fabric.