@ sally wastie....Would have loved those pine kitchen cupboards....before they were painted. Had I a strong yen for :a bit of colour"...(and I do love colour), I would have had a new glossy multi coloured counter top, probably something very striking and then oiled the pine cupboard doors There were no work benches in the kitchen of my 1920s all pine cottage ( always say that the kitchen was an afterthought since it is positioned just of a hallway and consisted only of a sink and a wood burning stove.) I built a small bench/table using VJ pine slats I'd removed from elsewhere and then put a thick pine top that curved out from the small straight bench to form a little round kitchen table..Then came the fun, I painted the benchtop and table a datk teale colour, gave it a flecked faux marble finish and a couple of coats of high gloss waterproof varnish. Nothing terribly amazing but it did give the old...'kitchen space' a bit of a lift. Had a larger round kitchen table with a formica top and timber legs...so gave the table-top the same teale treatment as the bench and it now lives on the veranda that came a few years later. Yes! Teale of any shade always looks good with timber. The only pity was that the kitchen walls and ceiling here were terribly smoke stained and had been painted a really horrible pre WWII green. Begrudgingly, I repainted the walls but used a bright orange/yellow to complement the dark teale colour ( this particular yellow is a good colour to keep the flies out) and, in keeping with the era of the house, I installed a built in dark timber kitchen hutch found at the dump shop. The kitchen is the only room to have been painted and repainted....but still have the dark timber parquetry floors. If you get tired of all timber a few splashes of bright colour in well-thought-out places do not go astray. If you have vertical timber panelled walls and you are feeling hemmed in... a good trick is to stain a small section of panels a darker wood colour or with a coloured stain to shift the focus from all the timber. or you can bleach the timber panels lighter. This idea can create interest extending ceilngward from behind a furniture piece...say low display cabinet...or just in a section of wall. You enhance the all timber 'look' with an eye -catching timber panel of another timber hue...like having a mahogany panel set in a light timber wall... Just a few ideas for those feeling a bit claustrphobic in an all timber house....understandable, not all of us aspire to live in a log cabin...but if carefully accented, an all timber interior can be extremely impressive and will not date. This is a pre-digital shot of the glass panels I had installed in the wall around my bed head...its really faded PIC but you can get the idea. Looks better today since the glass has been decoratively frosted with patterns. The sunroom behind the bedroomThis is also a pre-digital PIC showing the little timber kitchen bench with the teale table top. The end and other side of the bench is stained timber. This little table seats 3 or 4. Pity you can't see the old parquetry floor here. Old formica table given a lift with a Teale coloured painted top...there's no room for it in the ' kitchen space'. Amazing what a little lick of the right colour can do in an all timber house.

Hi Ron, I think that's a great selection and I believe will work well together. The black and white of the stone/tile has a nice minimalist feel, and a wooden look vanity will offset that with some warmth. Definitely recommend that, well done :-) I've attached a pic of a similar approach we've designed recently - timber veneer vanity with black marble tile with white solid surface sink, has a similar feel. Now with the timber you have to make sure that - if it is veneer (i.e. actual timber) it has a good protective coat (you could go for a 2pack finish or similar), and if it is a timber-look-laminate, make sure to double-check with the supplier it is suitable for bathroom application. I wouldn't recommend using veneer for the top surface, but you could use a suitable laminate, or you could even go for a solid timber bench top if you don't want to do stone. If it was me, I would just do the vertical surfaces in wood, and the bench top differently :-) Anyway, good luck with it all ! Marc.

yvonne.. re sanding cupboards I had mine professionally sanded because they were looking worn. timber is American Oak and it really didn't lighten very much by sanding. so depending on your timber you might not achieve much. i would change a few upper cabinets with glass doors, white perspex or remove a few doors, paint the back of shelving and hang wine glasses or whetever and break the load that way. I replaced my range hood with a pull out chrome one and that in itself made a difference nt tying in with the chrome handles. see pictures. maybe you could paint the legs or reupholster the stools to white...all part of the kitchen.

Hi Lorena, Given that your aim is to sell within a year this gives us a framework for working up a strategy to get the property to market with the greatest potential ROI. Working back from your realistic sale price expectations you can set a budget for your renovation. I would prioritise the internal upgrades ahead of the exterior. If the internals really appeal, buyers may be more willing to accept compromise on the exterior. On the other hand if it looks great from the outside, but the interior is under done, it may turn buyers off. Marketing images of a great looking interior are bound to drive solid enquiry. Once you have the interior up to speed, you will know how much is still in the kitty to spend on the outside. At the very least get all the currently painted surfaces re-painted, which may also mean some substrate repairs given the coastal location and age of the building. If there is still budget remaining after that, consider your options for the brickwork. Maybe just a professional pressure clean will be enough to freshen it up? Rendering is going to be a big ticket item, so perhaps leave that to the new owner's preference. If an investor buys the property they may even prefer low maintenance brickwork. For colour advice, check out manufacturer web sites such as Dulux and Resene. Paying for a colour consultancy is definitely worth it if you are not confident with picking colours yourself.