Samantha B I just completed my kitchen Reno in Perth. My pantry was also bricked up like yours. Literally doubled the space by getting rid of it but we found out after that the pantry was structural & we had to put an extra support beam in the roof instead ($800) so be careful of that! We completely moved the plumbing, gas & electrics & it only cost a few hundred! So don't be afraid to do that as long as u know decent priced tradies! We ended up doing nearly everything ourselves & went with a masters flat packed kitchen & sourced our own stone benchtops dirt cheap ($2500 installed for a 2m bench & a 1.5m island each with one waterfall edge.). Heres before & after pics.

We have four farmhouse style sinks in two different houses, and all present the same problem. It doesn't have anything to do with the material as two sinks are concrete, one stainless steel, and one composite stone. With the two kitchen sinks it's very frustrating spraying out the food particles from corner to corner. Food particles go from one side to the other, and it's very difficult to corral them to the drain. The two concrete bathroom sinks don't have enough slope, so when shaving and brushing teeth, the water and material flow to the opposite side of the sink. It's annoying to wash a 3' wide sink every time it's used. And gross if the sink isn't cleaned from side to side after every use. As a compromise, we're installing a farmhouse concrete bathroom sink with two drains and more slope. As I evaluate many things in life, a, farmhouse sink is a solutions looking for problem.

Old post but thought I'd update. We have finally moved into our forever home and on occasions, obviously in winter, we still have crying window (sob). We have the wet windows on the south side of the home which is the shady side so not unexpected but also on the north side where we still get lovely warm winter sunlight streaming in and I still do have all my windows slightly cracked open and it does help. Incidentally I have glass bricks in our bathroom on the south side and there is no condensation on this window at all. Our home has insulation in both the exterior and interior walls and we have double insulation in our roof, so factor 7 unlike the usual factor 3.5 not that it probably has any bearing on the moisture issue. We have a 1.8mtr wide veranda surrounding the entire home so the windows are some what protected from the elements but when the temperature gets fairly low and can be almost zero in winter, it seems impossible to prevent this crying window sindrome but I can live with the fact it is fairly easy and quick to remove with a Karcher window vac now, brilliant little machine at $99 and it only takes a few minutes. We have an exhaust fan in both bathrooms that is vented outside so the moist air does not go into the roof space and in fact even my rangehood ducting is vented outside too!! We even had condensation in the roof cavity as well to the point of having a rainforest up there but since fitting another whirlie into the roof making it three in total now, it appears to have almost entirely eradicated that problem. I can say catagorically now that crying windows are a very difficult problem to eradicate in very cold climates where obviously the inside of the home being heated at night is going to create the perfect conditions for the condensation to settle with the inside being far wamer than the outside and there in lies the problem which canot be changed. I have blinds and curtains that I close ever day before dark but it makes no difference. As I have aluminium windows and doors throughout, so no timber anywhere, it isn't such an issue for damage but annoying none the less but life goes on and I do so love my beautiful new home!!

Well after a very (very very very) long time my Living Room is all but complete. There is some work to do behind the new steps and some trim to be put on the bookshelves. A light is to be put between the couches (that the electrical cable hanging down) and the wall lights are going to be removed. So just a quick rundown on what has been achieved; Two sky windows - Velux - roofing guy Sheeted under the beams - plasterer New carpet – Bunnings – carpet layer Closed off the old bar and put in a door – builder and plasterer Installed ceiling fans – Hunter, remote control, reversible – electrician Installed downlights - electrician Painted the endwalls – Solver Paint but Dulux Chine White colour - me Painted the ceiling – 2 x coats Solver Ceiling White over 2 x coats plaster board sealer - me New blinds (venetians) and curtains - from Spotlight - me Installed a gas bayonet heater (until I can afford a gas ‘wood’ fire for the fireplace – cripes they are expensive) – secondhand from Garage Sale - me Installed bookshelves – 2 x 202mm high + 2 x 106mm high Billy Bookshelf and 2 x Brimnes Cabinet - me Built and installed new steps and bench top on bookshelf – laminated Beech bench top, cut to size and routed, stained and oiled - me Sofas – Ikea Ektorp - me So some things I would have done differently. The downlights would be warm white not welding mask white. In fact I would re-think the whole light thing and possibly use lights with reflectors that were dark so that light was only reflected down. They would ‘lower’ the ceiling and make the room cosier I think. I kinda like the ceiling fans but had seen some which were awesome but really expensive. Then I saw ones very similar to the awesome ones but much cheaper but by then it was too late. I should have put bi-fold doors where the old bar was instead of a swinging door. I suspect that it will be unlikely now that I can use the room for its intended purpose. In fact with hindsight I coulda shoulda done the job myself rather than getting a builder in. It’s not as good as it should be and that has disappointed me. The bookshelves have come a up a treat – need to finish them off though with some trim. All from ‘Ikea’ except for the timber bench top. The bench top was a light bulb moment and breaks up the all-white appearance of the shelves. Also the white of the shelves and the white of the cabinet were slightly different and the bench has helped disguise that. The bench top and the steps were laminated beech panels from ‘Bunnings’ that I had cut to size. I stained them, put a router over the edge to round it off and then coated with Tung Oil. The bookshelves look bigger in real life than they do in the photos too. So now to sit and enjoy my handy work.