Hi Tina, thanks for posting, it is all looking great. Shame about the panelling, but sometimes these things happen for a reason. It is great the armoire matches the doors so well when they are all on one wall, but I don't think you need to have the bed and side tables matching, especially when they are on another wall. My issue with painting furniture, while I love it, is the maintenance. It does chip over time and becomes one more thing to paint. I don't know what the timber is in your furniture but another possible option, especially to give you the coastal vibe is to lime it. To do this successfully, you will need to sand all the existing stain off it and go back to the raw timber. The darker the original timber, the less limed look you will get so bear that in mind too. I did an old bunk bed up that had seen better days, for my grands bedroom. It was a dark red wood, but with 4 coats of stain I got the look I was after which was that driftwood/coastal look. The whole thing looks totally new again. Sorry I can't post a photo as this function no longer works for me. Have a look at the Feast Watson range of liming stains, they have some gorgeous soft colours as well, but they let the timber show through rather than having the solid painted look. It is a very easy product to use, it dries quickly - I did the 4 coats over 2 days effortlessly. The hard work is in the sanding.

Hi How2Girl, I appreciate your follow up! The Reece document is good - thanks - I wish there was something concrete in the Standards though. Worth notiing is that a shower over the bath needs the same wall-sheeting details as if it was a shower base. Also wall framing in the bathroom needs to be done to AS 1684.2-2010 Residential timber-framed construction - Non-cyclonic areas (Which the James Hardie 'wet area design book' is based on) Very frustrating that the Australian Standards are not readily available - ie FREE- or at least, latest copies at local libraries. How are we meant to build to standards when they are inaccessible. Another factor in determining the overall quality of the Australian construction industry Also what I've found frustrating in this instance is that other trades in my small town are unwilling to agree that the work is of very poor quality - there is an unstated 'brotherhood' at work. So Im going to have to engage an independent Building Certifier, probably from out of town. Of course,the cost for this will come off the builder's fees on a pro-rata basis for below-par work

Hi, unless you take a bath at least once a week I'd skip the tub. I'd rather enjoy a bigger walk in shower, which is also a lot safer than climbing into a tub to shower. If you have the space instead of a tub and shower I'd consider a double vanity to give you extra storage space. It's a little luxury you will come to enjoy when everyone is getting ready on the morning.

Agree it is hotly debated. In our first home we renovated we had a big bathroom, double shower, clawfoot bath, double vanity. Our laundry was right outside our bathroom and we decided instead of having a change table for our babies, we would put a mat on the laundry bench and use that, much to several of our friends dismay who promtply delcared we would get sick of it after 5 minutes and do the changetable in the nursery. Um nope, never did and used the laundry bench the whole time, actually made cleaning up several 'poonamis' as we used to refer to them as, rather easy actually. In the end, both children ended up bathing in our laundry tub, no kneeling down and bending over a bath, and right next to our designated 'changing station' lol, and it worked perfectly. Failing that we would often shower the kids, we had a bumbo that we put in the shower with us and they would sit in that, loved it. As they got older as toddlers, both used to shower a lot and not use the bath at all. We left that house when our eldest was 7 and our youngest was 4. We went on to purchase and renovate another house that never had the bath put in until we were nearly finished the reno and were selling, so no baths there either. Now we are in their (the kids) third house since they were born and they are 12 and 9, small bathroom layout, they've had baths here a few times...but not a lot. And now like you we are debating...when we redo this bathroom...to bath or not to bath...lol. Not sure if it helps... :)