Thank you for your suggestions everyone. I am going to layer it with another solid rug and use it in the living room. My living room neds a bit of colour and I thought this would be perfect. Breaks my heart to think that I may have to put it elsewhere.

I think a comfortable distance between the island and the counter is around 42". It seems that you have only 30" between your cook top and the counter. I might be a little too tight. The wall between the entrance and the kitchen could be 4' long instead of 6', you would then be able to move the island a foot which would give you more room between the cook top and the island. Could you switch the location of the toilet and vanity in your dad's bathroom so your enter facing a vanity instead of a toilet which is a lot nicer.

I like the room but it looks a bit empty. Possibly some contemporary low interesting cabinet on either side of the fireplace some organic baskets or metal vessels of some sort on top of the cabinets. It will fill in the bareness between cabinet and sconces. Roll down textured shades at the windows would add a nice fill in touch and add privacy and block light. Or simple linen floor to ceiling curtains on rods at ceiling height. Here are three rooms with free standing cabinets and long curtains at the windows. You might like these ideas for not. Art work could be under the scones with lamp for ambient lighting Again simeple cabinets and surprise, a TV stand too. This is a lovely idea too with the twigs; could change seasonally. I like the benches for warmth and texture and softness and the chandelier adds a dramatic touch. Good luck with your lovely room!

I was diagnosed with dust mite allergy as a child and all my parents did was replace the carpet in the bedroom with hard flooring and replace the feather pillow with synthetic. There is a school of thought that says making our environment too clean and sterile might be contributing to the increase in certain health problems. So don't feel you have to rush to update the whole house. I'm not even sure what difference the paint (on your list) makes? (Low VOC is best but that is unrelated to dust mites.) Take the time to do some research and also seek advice from medical advisors and allergy support groups, there are aspects of your question which are probably better answered by other parents in a similar situation rather than by people on a decorating forum. Keep up-to-date with what's on the market, there are products which didn't exist when I was a child which might well be useful for you, but also be wary, don't feel you must invest in every new product that promises to do amazing things. Dust mite allergy is allergy to dust mites, which live in dust, so what you want to be doing is reducing dust. The list from Brandi Nash Hicks is a great start. Make everything easy to dust, for example enclosed storage rather than open shelving, streamlined lighting rather than ornate fixtures. Use dusting tools that collect and remove the dust rather than simply sweep it off (I was going to give the example of static cloths but they're not appropraite in all situations, you're not supposed to use those near electronics). Get a good vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter. I guess it's hard to say no to stuffed toys but store them inside something and vacuum them often. With large expensive items especially, weigh up your options before replacing them. For example a good quality fabric sofa might not necessarily be worse than a leather sofa, depending on various factors including leather quality, your climate, how much sunlight it is exposed to, what you clean it with, etc.