You should have a professional installer in your area take a look at your home so you can discuss what end result you are wanting. You may need to use an engineered wood. This is still an all wood product and is much more dimensionally stable than solid wood. This is a huge advantage if you are in an older home or in the midwest where humidity levels can drastically change from season to season. A solid wood will cup or curl if humidity and moisture levels are not managed. Your installer should do a moisture test before installation to make sure the installation does not fail. All warranties will be voided if this step is not taken. Also, your transitions will need to be considered. Is the new wood floor going to butt up to tile, carpet, or vinyl? The height difference in the two products will need to be taken into consideration. You will have a greater selection of thicknesses in the engineered woods. Engineered wood should be several plys, all wood. If you choose a solid wood, the hand scraped versions are fantastic for a high traffic area with children. Hickory, Red Oak, most Brazilian Species, and even Bamboo are hard enough to take everyday traffic and still look terrific. Good luck!

Lots of ideas....couldn't resist adding my two cents. i copied your photos and did a little cut and paste- it's messy, but hopefully gets the main idea across. i'd put your sofa in front of the large book case, chair by the fireplace, tv on the stand on the wall opposite the fireplace - so you can either look at the fire or the tv. Someone suggested using frames of one color for your photos - an inexpensive way to do that would be to spray paint them all a dark color-black goes with everything. Since your shelves are a medium tone wood, display things that are dark or light so that they contrast against the wood. Limiting your display items pallette to a few values usually helps to unify things. (I think that's why so many people want to paint the shelves or put inserts in the back to help your nice things read more clearly...some get lost). If you want to "splurge" -you may consider having a carpenter make a few solid tall cabinet doors to provide a visual break in the shelving. I'm showing 3 doors - 1 on the right side of the fireplace and 2 on the left to leave two open vertical shelves for display on each side - with things arranged to frame the fireplace as the focal point. To add some height to your big vases, consider stacking some books beneath them. Enjoy experimenting untill you get something you're happy with - good luck!

Thank you so much for all your helpful advice. I love the idea of adding some of those pretty lamps. And cute little frames and mirrors to. Please can anyone tell me what the casbah is. Thank you.

I've been thinking of you,Fragle - I remember those sleepless nights when the babies first came home and everyone was sleep deprived but life-as -always still had to go on, esp for Mommy. So happy for you that you have a 'good' baby, I love the name too:-)