Firstly...are you sure they are jarrah and not som other more exotic timber? If you are fortunate enough to have a genuine 1932 built cottage I say "Don't Do it!" Just look at the beautiful timber in that floor! It would be sinful to paint it. I have a 1924 cottage with beautiful hoop pine floorboards all from the day it was built. My suggestion is to have the boards sanded and polished. I would not even dare go near them with polyurethane. I have turned back the clock and used the methods of the period of the house...a mix of pale boiled linseed oil and kero. Put it on with a mop or a deck mop or a wool mop leave it soak in. Re-do and leave it soak in,,,( you won't get patches...the floors will just soak it up.) Third coat, add a bit of turps to the mix as a white ant deterrent. Then, when the floors look like they've soaked up enough, get a big old fashioned string mop...if you can find one...or use a deck scrubber and old towels...or even a wad of new ones...100% cotton...its worth it, and rub off as much of the surplus as possible...wear sox so you will notice when the sox do not get oil stained anymore. First go is a long process but you will be really pleased when the floors have had several "drinks". After that you could get just an ordinary floor varnish or oil or just a sealant. Some of the modern wood treatments are really good. Then, every so often do the boards over with your "Oil Mop". You will never find timber like that again and, in my experience, it adds to the value of the house big time. Do what you like to any gyprock and plastered walls but PLEASE love your floorboards and any natural timber...especially from that era. I've been in this old cottage for 32 years. Everyone wants to know where I sourced the "new" floorboards", and who did I get to make my silky oak windows! Hope that helps.

Thanks for the feedback all... Here are some samples and it just shows how important to see them in the actual environment. Looks a little too dark even with a lot of light the longer plank is embelton brand and the other two are colonial quickstep. The two darker boards are already showing the hand prints. The embelton board (Belmont dark) was slightly cheaper albeit they had a special on that coloured board, so it should come in around $32 Sqm for the different colours. I'm almost sold on embelton as the look and feel is more advanced to the colonial. I'd love to go with real timber but this isn't my dream house, plus I have concerns that it would be truly appreciated based on the area I live. I'm aiming for a hybrid coastal look and just finished the walls in antique hamptons, so re painting in the short term isn't desired. In the pics the Belfort dark looks fantastic c but maybe I aim for La Mancha or maple in the embelton range

I hated the wasted space of a laundry so much, we opted to put the washing machine in the bathroom. Washing is sorted and folded in the family room, whilst watching TV. Makes the task less dull and from there it can go to the correct side of the house, as the family room is the hub. Ironing is done in front of the TV, where necessary, although the clean washing is removed to each person's room first. Each person does their own ironing as they prefer. I stopped doing it for everybody years ago. If the can cook and clean, they can iron. Linen has specified storage centrally. Each bathroom has storage for towels etc. It was designed around how we like to live, when we built.

They look a lot like ours did when we sanded them back 10 years ago. We used a semi gloss coat (not sure of brand, but think ours was clear colour). The photo makes them more orange than they really are.They are very easy to maintain (vacuum once per week and light mop every so often). We have them throughout our house and love them.