Being in the floor covering game for 37 years all I can say is the timber does not do well with a lot of moister and before no time the timber will expand to a point where the boards will fall off. Have you looked at the new ceramic tiles ghat look like timber ?

Thank you! we already have smallish skirts but they desperately need removing or replacing. They collect a lot of dust so thinking of something with minimal detail that can be wiped quickly. We have a Queensland style home in WA and i would say it's pretty old fashioned, our renovation style is leaning towards more Hamptons and it looks likely we will go with a grey on the walls so thinking a stark medium sized white skirt will finish it off nicely. Thanks for your comments!

Those cornices are both gorgeous and look to be in excellent condition. When extending homes that have some original character and features, there is no need to gut the original rooms. Unless you would like to pretend that the original home never existed and that you have actually built an entirely new home, keeping the original rooms as intact as possible and then, working with your architect and builder to transition into the new rooms in the extension can often make for a more beautiful and original renovation/extension. often the more ‘different’ the two are, the better. Ie, ornate cornice and skirting with original polished boards transitioning to square set and polished concrete for example. if you are wanting an entire new and modern building then buying a beautiful old home would seem an odd choice.

I have shadow line ceilings, mine are simple and inserted guessing mdf. The designer wanted to create more shadow lines. Keep it plain and simple. Also my ceiling, walls and skirts are all painted in Whisper white, ceiling in flat, walls Saturn and skirts in semi gloss. This was the designers idea, saying that pencil line ceilings always should be done like this.