My parents' old house had a wonderful oak front staircase that my six siblings and I used to race up and down, taking them two or three at a time, with only a casual hold on the railing. I don't know how we managed to never slip or fall. Now, the timber backstairs were steep, and had narrow treads and were poorly lit. We NEVER ran up or down them, but held tightly to the railing and hoped to heck we managed to stay upright. As an adult, my previous home had carpeted stairs, which I slipped on (wearing socks) and fell down twice, though thankfully I was closer to the bottom than the top. My current home has timber stairs with three narrow stainless steel runners stood on edge and inset horizontally across the front of each tread (this is supposed to help reduce risk of slips). I doubt I will get over the anxiety of taking another tumble, so I never go down them wearing socks, and if barefoot, I hold onto the railing for dear life and take it nice and slow. So far so good.

I have actually imported furniture myself without a freight forwarder/ shipping company a couple of times. it is fiddly but not impossible. I saved heaps if you don't count my time. And it was a bit of an adventure. It did give me an appreciation of the expenses importers have though and these shipping places (myUS etc) have to add their margin of course. so for anyone considering-anything timber has to have pest certification and that has to be within 3 weeks (I think) of arrival. Then the shippers in their wisdom had put the container on a timber pallet for which I didn't have a pest fumigation certificate so I had to pay $33 to have the pallet destroyed. But with a lot of family in rural/farming businesses I don't mind the strict quarantine. We are very lucky with our relatively clean produce. The customs people at the airport are very discouraging and keep telling you to use a freight forwarder etc (my stuff was already at Botany so no way), there were all sorts of odd fees etc (eg AQIS container fee $6), terminal fee. All sorts of things but it was fun and I saved a fortune, even after GST (I had to pay GST on the freight too, I guess as a 'service', which I wasn't expecting). Mind you the dollar was better then. It wouldn't be worth it for just a lamp but for more stuff...... But then if you were bringing in that much stuff maybe you wouldn't need to save the money. they also required that the invoice from the supplier of the furniture clearly showed what currency it was in. This was a hassle as I had just bought retail in the US. What currency do customs think a receipt/invoice from a shop in California shop would be in? But that's where the bureaucracy was frustrating. a final tip, the freight forwarders usually only include delivery to kerbside. They were even very unwilling just to help me get it into the garage (let alone down the steps/indoors) so you may need someone to help you receive the goods at home and get them at least out of the weather.

Wow, so much to love about your home. I would not rush into anything drastic but live with it for 12 months before spending money. There is a lot of warmth and character in the beautiful slate floor and feature brick walls, which are beautifully counterbalanced by the huge windows and all of that light. The kitchen looks like a more recent renovation and is probably not original, and is a bit at odds with the rest of the room. However it looks well made and has lots of life left in it. I would be looking to build on what you have with a warm, organic feel, with lots of textured neutrals, rather than trying to hide the character of what you already have. You don't want to make it look like a project builder's home with smooth, flat (boring) surfaces everywhere. Love your house, and best of luck with your considerations, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

I agree that it can be upsetting at this stage but your timber will all darken naturally and the difference will become less obvious over time and once you have furniture and rugs in place it's likely to be one of those issues that only you and no one else will notice. And I defy anyone to not have something like this in their house which has been newly built/renovated. I know this isn't terribly helpful but I don't think ripping anything up to start again or going to great lengths to seek recompense from supplier/installer is going to help your blood pressure either (by all means raise concerns with them and ask for suggestions from them).