Should I Go Naked?

Nothing like starting off a Monday with a provocative question, right? Sorry to disappoint you though if you were hoping for some talk of skin . . . today, I'm talking about my dining room floor. You see, I'm kind of going through some growing pains with my dining room, and one of the changes I've already made is ditching my rug. What? Oh yes, I went naked. But the question is should I stay that way? Let's back up. In case you can't remember, here's what my dining room looked like with a rug . . .

Just your basic jute rug from West Elm, nothing fancy. I have patterned Persian rugs in rooms that adjoin this one so I never wanted any distracting colors or patterns on the floor of the dining room. So, I've always had some version of a jute or natural fiber rug (prior to this one I had the diamond jute rug from West Elm). And while I've always liked the look of these neutral natural rugs, they do have their downsides. A. They shed (there is always a pile of sandy/dusty/gritty material under the edges of the rug), and B. I have two dogs and a cat, and let's just say they sometimes think the jute is grass, and well, you can guess the rest. Which leads to C. The natural fiber rugs are hard to clean. So, after a while, mine was looking pretty worse for the wear, so I took it the the recycling center. Now, my dining room looks like this . . . 

I actually don't mind the bare floor, but I don't like the clashing browns of my dining table and floor. It was way less noticeable when there was a buffer rug between the two. And if you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen these . . . 

Yes, I bought some new dining chairs. I got them at the Habitat Re-Store . . . they were such a good deal and I absolutely love the shape and black color (which needs some serious touching up, etc.). And, of course, they need new fabric so I got a swatch of this just to play around with. 

Which led me to think about painting my walls a creamy color . . . 

One thing leads to another. It's inevitable. So, basically now I want to change my entire dining room (table, chairs, walls, possibly chandelier, etc.). No big deal. To me, our current dining room looks a little formal, and we're not really a formal dining kind of family. More of a casual group.

Which leads me back to the floors . . . for now, I'm keeping them naked. Once other decisions are made, I'm sure it will become clear. Until then, here are some dining rooms I've been drawn to with naked floors . . .

Sources: all via my Pinterest Dining Room Board

Now, if I could just convince my uncle to switch dining tables with me, I'd be set (he currently has my dearly departed Grandmother's oval Saarinen style table which I covet). 

What about you, do you like the bare/naked dining room floor look?