And when your child comes in from playing and sits on the $6000 chair and he's got an almost-melted chocolate bar in his cargo shorts (he's already been twitching all over the chair) and smeared hands slippery from trying to dig it out but already the chocolate's come through the shorts onto the chair, well, you do get the picture...@carolins. That's a neat website. Wish there was one for the US. Speaking of the your homeland, the Netherlands, my best friend relocated from there with his new bride twenty years ago. Every one in a while he misses the terrible weather. You know, cold, rainy, cloudy, foggy, and if and when we happen to get a day something like that (we're in N.E. Florida) he misses home! BTW he's one of the best physical therapists I've ever met and I used to go through them like toilet paper!. He got rid of a terribly bad spasm that I had in one form or another for three decades, and he did it in three sessions. It changed my life.

Hi I Lesslie, What a lovely place to make your own (and bring up your kids, work, garden…). The best way forward for you and your family is to jot down what you love and what you don’t love about your existing home and land (site). This can vary between individuals. Your list should include aspects like the leaky bathroom, as well as particular rooms being ‘too dark’. Don’t forget the wonderful features such as a particular view to the garden (or hills beyond), enough lawn to kick a footy, and so on. Now transform these into two ordered lists: the first list being the things you love about your home and your site (list in priority order); the other list is for the items that need changing for functional or aesthetic reasons (also in priority order). Next, write down what your short term and long term needs are for your home: do you intend to live there until the day you die, or just while the kids are at school?; are you intending to continue to work from home?. Now, to think about how you imagine you’d like to live, work and exist as a family. Forget for the moment your current home scenario. Write down the types of rooms/space you need (as distinct from ‘want’). List the aspects of living you enjoy, such as family gatherings, friends visiting overnight, and son on. What about your work from home requirements: do you need a space separate from the living (kids zone) to make telephone calls, concentrate? And how big should this space be (occasional staff)? After much soul searching, you will have what we call a “Functional Brief”, bringing together the pro’s and con’s of your project, your long term plan and your wish list. This should now become your ‘go to’ document that sets the agenda for your renovation project. If an idea is not on your list, don’t go there! There is another benefit of creating your Functional Brief. Whilst creating and editing these documents you will become more attuned with the worth (benefits) of each component. For every project there needs to be a budget – and your budget will assist in prioritising what is most important to you (the tighter the budget, the greater the need to prioritise). Your next step is to take your Functional Brief and your budget to a suitably qualified architect. An experienced architect should be able to transform your Functional Brief and your budget into a project – a renovation project that is specific to you, your family, your site, your budget and your future. Best of luck, Cathi

Ok. I am a little confused where to head. I need a future vision for all components of house and fence to make the little decisions. The pool blue tiles I love but not sure how to tie in with all the fences internal and external and with house especially if this green goes anywhere else ? But I have bought a " green paint" dulux scott's pine very similar to what was there but it is quite wet here so I stumbled on a photo edit option and have done an unskilled mock up on a photo and taken a photo of it in the meantime (as I couldnt work out how to save it!!! ) But although the green is lighter than actual paint I have bought I can actually (ok it has taken me a while) see how the green would work. But if I do that what would I do will both my green fence and my maroon fence from the outside. I also tried to track down junior navy and couldnt find that colour anywhere? I have slate in need of a little tlc inside front door which I love. I know for some people they find it hard to clean or dated. Its individual and I am beginning to subscribe to conscious consumerism. Lets be clear my house has had renos from some different eras so was and is going to be earthy but eclectic and individual in decorating style.

@siriuskey not related to this thread per se but I believe all cabinetry with the exception of timber comes with white laminate inside (unless you order custom and pay for the inside to be painted). We just had black cabinetry installed in our lounge and the back of the doors are white. I was shocked so contacted everyone I know with new kitchens in dark colours and they ALL had polyurethane cabinets with white laminate on the back of dark/coloured doors.