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.

Keya, glad you decided to take the one reader's idea about moving the armoires in front of windows that you don't need and giving the bed a wall of its own! And, yes, you can have Roman shades on one wall and layered drapes on the other. When I had drapes made for my tall sitting room windows/doors, I had them use the same fabric for the Roman shades for the smaller windows on the other wall. For me personally, in these older Indian homes with all the odd nooks and niches in the walls, perhaps it would be more soothing to have a light/med tone paint on the walls that blends with the drapes/blinds for an 'uninterrupted' look, and I would use the same color on ceiling and beams. (but that is just my thought) I would start the process with a large carpet with your favorite colors, then choose your Bedcover & cushions, then your wall paint and fabric for drapes/blinds ..Not certain what style you like, but if you really like a particular Ethnic bedcover fabric, you can always have them stitched into curtains or Roman shades too. Can't wait to see the "After" pics!

@corner Stone designs. sorry if I had given an impression it mud slinging. but objectively speaking the suggestion to go for a chimney just because someone asked for it instead of addressing the real issue us not what I intended to do. one has to understand all the negatives as well veggie going in for a decision . just like you have the right to suggest there is nothing wrong in pointing out the issues in the proposed solution. none of us are internet warriors but most of us are "sold" items that we will never need in our life by creating an illusion. I know that dinner call it business but I am not in such one and I have the luxury to call a spade a spade. Even now the person who asked for is not sure in what they want but they think that a chimney will solve the issue. engineering doesn't work that way. unless we know what the real issue us, which isn't clear if it is the smoke or the smell and the your of food cooked, the frequency, the 80/20 utility of the kitchen we are not even close to understanding the problem. my intent is to emphasize the importance of understanding the problem and then look for issue and not provide a ready made solution. we can all suggest something by seeing a picture that fire will come and catch the chef if it is located in the window but do you think that what you say is practical. you may construct this as much slinging be as a novice I have a genuine question. how many houses have such a fire accident. we don't even know if the stove is electric or gas. if it is electric then they just no question of fire. so I encourage you to objectively approach and not see this as a mud slinging thing as that's not the point.

I am looking for Glass Hob, Vertical Glass Chimney and Built In Oven. I am getting mixed feedback across different forums so thought to reach here (impressed with some of the pointed comments so far). I am planning to choose between Bosch, Elica, Hafele and Faber. Can anyone please help ? I need to finalize it in next 3-4 days. I am purely going by the brand name (plus my previous experience with Bosch) so preferred the following 1). Bosch Glass Hob 2). Bosch Built In Oven (though it has aluminium burner but the one with brass burner 'Hafele/Elica' has the problem of making utensils black) 3). For chimney they do not offer 60cm Filter less chimney hence thinking to choose between Hafele or Elica. Please suggest if this is the right choice. Thanks in advance