Hi Danny, I understand your issue with dog mud on cream carpets. I've had dogs all my life. We've also always had cream carpets which, in my eyes, is a ridiculous idea for my family because if it's not the muddy dog ruining the carpet, it's a family member spilling tea and coffee! It seems like you want less hassle/less cleaning. Honestly? Get an easily cleanable floor. If you think the muddy dog is the issue, just wait until your child is moving and throwing food/being sick/god knows what! Tony's images are great - it seems like covering the pond might be a great opportunity to make this a "dog" area. I can see a small path on the left hand side of your garden, maybe you could widen this and have it leading towards an area with bark/grass. I definitely wouldn't recommend letting your dog do its business on the decking. Not only will it damage the wood, but it's an area where everyone will walk, so stepping in poo is inevitable! As a quick fix for the mud on carpets - pop some old towels on the floor near the entrance to the garden. Every time your dog comes in with muddy paws, use the towel to wipe off the excess mud. As for the poo, where ever your dog poos it will need to be picked up, so no fix for this! From experience, my dogs have always found an area in the garden they like to poo in. We just keep checking it every now and then. I have to admit, it seems a little sad to think the dog wouldn't mix with the family in the garden, as my childhood was so enjoyed having our dog in the garden with us. But this is YOUR house, and whatever works best for you is the answer. Good luck/let us know what you decided.

Thanks for the comment. I never did get around to updating this. Thanks everyone for your input. Here's some photos - nothing like the amazing professional photos on Houzz I'm afraid, just taken on my iPhone with the room lights on as its very dull today. In the end I managed to convince my wife to go for a light/dark theme. She was worried the dining room would feel very dark but it really doesn't. We love the distinct feel it gives both the living and dining room. Open plan so a feeling of space but feels like two distinct rooms in their own right. For those who like detail... Paint wise we have used Earthborn clay paint. The living room is Feather Pillow (a very warm neutral grey which reminds me a bit of Skimming Stone). It can look very grey in the north facing daylight but not too cold and warms up beautifully in the evening. I love having the ceiling light dimmed low with the table lamp on. The dining room is Damson Mousse. I love how this changes colour through the day. Sometimes it's more purple sometimes it's very soft and warm, almost aubergine. We also used Earthborn in our bedroom (Cupboard Love). In hindsight it was a poor choice for the dining room because it has almost no durability. It will take a brush against the wall but any liquid splashes ruin it (except for pure water which just evaporates out as its so breathable). It wouldn't be so bad if it touched up nicely and the lighter colours in the living room and bedroom do touch up well but the purple touches up terribly unfortunately. All woodwork, including the shelves which I had made by a local carpenter and the alcove cabinets, which I made myself, are painted in Loft White Intelligent Emulsion by Little Greene. You'll notice I did successfully paint the brown uPVC window frames and have had quite a few compliments. The black rubber gaskets were removed for painting and the frames had two coats of Zinsser BIN, a coat of acrylic primer undercoat (I used Leyland) and a topcoat. The wood grain effect on the frames makes it look very realistic. I also replaced the gold coloured handles for chrome ones. The floor is QuickStep Impressive in Soft Oak Natural and continues into the hall. We found a very good local fitter who also fit all of our new skirting board and architraves. The shutters are from a company called Shutterly Fabulous who are on Houzz I think. They supplied, measured and fitted and were a very reasonable £1200. We bought a set of their DIY shutters from their sister company California Shutters which I fitted myself in the bedroom. A few other details...the living room chimney has a false stud frame around it which conceals the wiring down to the left cupboard which contains all the AV gear. It also allows the TV bracket, mounted to the real chimney, to be recessed to get the TV right up to the wall. The room has hard wired 5.1 speaker terminals run under the floor and buried in the walls, all terminated at a 5.1 speaker wall plate in the left alcove. There is also 4x gigabit Ethernet ports in the left cupboard which terminate back at my network cabinet under the stairs. Most of the house lights are remote control and can be controlled by physical remotes, iPhones etc. Using LightwaveRF technology. Both radiators were replaced and the living room radiator moved under the bay window (the love seat does not stop it heating the room). Fitted with decent chrome valves and pipe snaps and chrome roses to conceal the copper. Sofa and love seat are from sofa.com. Both are part of the Isla range. Ceiling lights and lamps are from John Lewis. The dining room light was off centre which I realised after we decorated but I'm a bit OCD about things like that so I moved it over (fortunately the carpet was already up in my daughter's room above fit plastering and decoration and there was plenty of slack wire). Rug, throw, cushions and dining chairs are from Next. Plant and pot were a bargain in Homebase. New oak doors were bought online. Finally, the sideboard is from Cotswold Co and the side tables from a local shop. Both are far eastern imports to save money. The side tables are excellent quality, the sideboard less so but you get what you pay for. We invested a bit more in the dining table which is solid European oak (from Lithuania I think). Anyway I think that covers it. Hope you like it. Any questions please ask and sorry for any typos as I wrote this on my iPhone.

I install home automation equipment and lighting controls. I don't have a TV in the house : ) I do though, have a projector with a retractable screen. This has totally changed the way we watch TV. We only watch what we want to - which is mainly programs recorded via Youview or films. When the projector isn't on, the screen is out of sight in the ceiling and the room is setup for more social activities. Personally, I couldn't be without the radio. We have speakers in every room for this and music in general. Upstairs this is done with inceiling speakers so again, it is a discrete system.

What irritates me and causes me to just skim through most stories, is the fact they always seem to focus on houses/apartments/gardens that are either ridiculously expensive, impractical for daily life, huge, highly "designed" and staged or simply reflecting the style/colour/trend du jour and rarely reflect the types of houses the majority of us live in or within our budgets. Not everyone wants to be on the cutting edge all the time. Inspiration is good, but reality every now and then is better. It's no use perpetually showing images of massive NY loft apartment'esque open plan spaces, when many of us live in relatively modest semis or bungalows. Or depicting spacious, open plan overly staged living kitchens, typically in navy blue or a range of greys, with the ubiquitous three pendants over an island the size of a small country. With Crittal bi-fold doors, giving panoramic views over stately gardens as far as the eye can see. With space for a refectory table to seat 20, acres of storage and a whole suite of nubuck (or latterly teal/mustard velvet) sofa and comfy chairs, with giant art pieces and space for a couple of large dogs on the pristine limestone floor, which runs seamlessly out onto a highly staged patio. When real life means a lot of people can barely squeeze an average size table in their kitchen/diner or have to compromise on storage to fit a dishwasher in. The same could be said about the gardens, I'm very interested in gardens, particularly planting schemes and the more natural side of a garden, so consequently I'm sick of literally seeing the same cookie cutter, urban style paving and patios, uninspiring meagre planting and statement plants in pots over and over again. I think there needs to be a balance of aspirational inspiration and real life reality, that appreciates that folks maybe on a limited budget, aren't that creative or don't want to be the epitome of trend or fashion and just want the best home for them (without feeling like they're just not trendy/cool/out of step), so they too can take something away from the stories/editorials. Consequently, I rarely go to that part of that website because I am nearly always disappointed.