Thank you all for taking the time to reply to me. I've decided to get a runner, feel that's going to be best with the 3 kids running about. I'm eyes are sore looking at all the different kinds of runners so I ended up phoning the carpet man and getting him to make me a runner from same carpet that Im getting everywhere else so it's all matching. When he sends it away to get it binded, it will be done with orange thread, think this will give me a pop of colour against the grey carpet and be a little different. Takes a few weeks for it to come back but as soon as it's done and in, I will post a picture for you'd. Thanks again for your input and helping me make my mind up.

Joanna, For a true light scandi design here, it would be bare floorboard (maybe check under the carpet), a white for the staircase and door frames/doors and ceiling then a slighting darker light or maybe very light grey for the wall area. Traditionally they would not have curtains in this area but I think if you changes to a grey blind that compliments the sage ( or another green) it would look great. A few plants on the window cill, ivy is easy to look after and would fall down the wall, would look great too. It's a cold place, in winter most of the time, so scandi design is all about reflecting light and letting as much as possible in. It's also about high quality materials and getting back the bare materials, hence the floorboards :) I hope this helps a little and I look forward to seeing the design. All the best, Gina

If you want to pop into our showrooms I can show you all the options, then when the carpet came in we would send it off to be bound for you after you pick which width you would like in the tape. We are located at 95 lr. George's st Dun Laighaire our number is 01 9033613 and we are open 10 till 5.30 we also measure and quote free of charge with no obligation.

Could you not go for even a laminate over some of the floors that need insulating rather than leaving them just floorboards? Also you can get finished panels which sit over the stair treads to give a new tread in a soolid wood - think of them like veneers for teeth! Especially useful if your stairs are all rickety like ours were. If you are going to try and sand them all down then it’s worth just staining rather than painting them from experience. Sanding is something we attempted twice and it’s such hard work, difficult to end up with smooth floors and not gouging out bits and is also expensive to do. Get a pro in to do it properly if your floors are good quality. We had just pine in our old Victorian house and they are to soft and marked v easily so looked a mess quickly Our master bedroom here is floorboards and I’m literally going to manually sand them lightly - removing any bumps then use a floor paint with a light coat of clear varnish on top. Will be much cheaper and save us the cost of installing carpet as well (having no budget of course, ha ha)