Hi Sam, I've got a few ideas: Don't make changes once your plan is set - they cost. Spend the time before you commit to things educating yourself as each change brings costs and time. Make carrying a tape measure in your handbag a habit and carry the measurements for everything that you're shopping for - saves back and forth and allows you to know that what you're looking at fits (which means that you can be haggle on the price). Don't be afraid to haggle (be nice, but haggle) on materials and appliances and don't be shy about pointing out you're buying multiple items with electrical goods as most of the sales people work on commission so Joe Blogg wants you to by all your appliances from him in one go. Also go shopping with comparable prices and don't be put off by them saying "oh that's an online price" - if they want the sale they'll meet the price. Avoid custom made - go for doors, windows, cabinetry that are standard sizes where you can. Anything custom costs more. The beer economy works especially well particularly with junior tradies or tradies that are small businesses. Don't get painters in, paint it yourself. If you've got concrete floors live with them for a while until you can afford carpeting etc - ideally in areas where you can use their thermal mass to help you heat and cool your home. Tap into friends and family skill sets - the artist (abstract art for your walls), the sewer (custom cushions), the gardener (plant advice and cuttings/seedlings), the shop-a-holic who knows the out of the way shops (bargains), the design guru with impeccable taste (comfort blanket when you're picking wall colours). For your landscaping get family, friends and neighbours to strike cuttings for you where you can - you cant get cheaper then free. You can also have a "working bee" for good friends who are happy to get dirty - they come and give you a hand doing the hard labour - you feed and water them. For your outdoor furniture look for second hand. If you can - do the clean up on site each day yourself - that way your tradies are working not cleaning which will save you money on their bills and can check for what has been done each day and catch any mistakes early. Buy the ends of roll carpet and have them hemmed for bigger rugs that are cheaper than rugs from mainstream shops if you shop at carpet warehouse outlets Invest time into doing your lighting plan and go with LED's - they're a bit more expensive now but will save you in the long run (and save you having to deal with ladders more then once every 10 years or so) - and use a specialist LED lighting company - I can recommend SUPERLIGHT in Sydney. we've used them and the ladies there were so helpful. If you've been tempted to do intergrated technology into your house put the wiring etc in for it just don't install it until you can afford it. Good rectified porcelain tiles can replicate natural stone tiles and you avoid having to seal the tiles every 12-18 months. Good luck!

Over time & with exposure to light the natural light colour will start to yellow. You could use a water based non yellowing polyurethane, or if you want them to stay very light you could use Feast Watson liming white, water based, which is non yellowing & gives a milky white effect without obscuring the natural grain.

our kitchen dining area was tiled, and its all cracking, but the bathroom is fine. i think it's just that the bathroom is smaller and the posts pretty much run around the wall so it all moves together, the kitchen/dining is just too big an area and the posts run right along the crack, so of course is really cracked and needs to be pulled off. lovely tile, but wrong choice for this house. i plan to use lino for the floor in the kitchen and bathroom, it would have originally been lino. our neighbour has a concrete slab under their house and i'd been puzzling how they stopped it cracking till they showed me they layed it in sections like massive pavers. this sort of soil is like big sponge, so i prefer to keep it moist and use plants that soak up any excess moisture. i've got water loving subtropicals, gingers and cannas and half the lawn is mint. look, don't panic, get to understand what this means and factor it in to any further choices.

Well, HU-115348458. After learning what can happen to ply in my project here in Oz, I worked in the UAE where high temperatures and arid climate means that timber screens dry out and warp. For screens there, I used aluminium sheet with slots cut out. No twisting, shrinkage or need to repaint etc. This is Al Muneera in Abu Dhabi . However, your problem is exterior cladding. I would suggest that you use fibrous cement sheet with a suitable paint then attach your battens with screws through nylon washer spacers so that the battens are not hard against the fibro and rainwater has a chance to dry out. The below image shows this methodology used on the end of a RV toilet block I designed here in Eumundi.