Oh C'mon V Richards...every epoch has its treasures. B4 you make a mad run for it stop a while and consider the period and the reasons for the style...it can be extremely enlightening....unless its not the period you want to escape from but from some of the opinions. I spent many years of my youth outside of Australia living surrounded by old ruins in Europe. I forgot what it was like here. When finally I returned to Australia and found myself living in some of the 60s and 70s places..I found much to admire and wonder about. I may not have fallen in love with much of it but there was a certain mistique and a feel that I can still conjure when talking about certain places. Not saying that it was all romantic and pleasant but it conveyed something of the era and the kind of Aussie from those days.

Turning something that is run-down into an inviting space again is very rewarding. This is one of our favourite ever transformations in the Perth suburb of Mount Lawley: After - top storey addition, open plan living extension at the rear, indoor/outdoor living complete with an outdoor kitchen. Just stunning.

Loving these hilarious stories ... makes mine seem tame. My flatmate and I had a spare room and kindly offered it to a friend. She moved in and all was going quite well (except the cartoons every morning, the late night fry ups and the various articles of clothing left lying ALL over the house). One evening when 'friend' was out, we two had a few friends over for drinks and a movie. Everyone was being polite and trying not to mention the smell that became increasingly offensive as the night wore on. Half way through the movie it was no longer tolerable ... "What the hell is that smell .. sorry girls, but I think you have a dead animal in here somewhere". So six of us went searching for about half an hour ... it was a pair of 'friends' shoes left pushed under the couch. The smell, up close, was worse than BAD ... no words! I decided to just throw the shoes into 'friends' bedroom but .. when I opened the bedroom door .. the full force of her many pairs of smelly shoes hit me and I almost passed out. The smell lingered in the living room for days later. We confronted 'friend' about the shoe problem and from that point her shoes had to be stored outside on the veranda, away from all doors or windows so the smell could never be allowed to permiate the indoors again. 'Friends' response was "how dare you open my bedroom door". All this led to us lying ... told her the lease was up, planned moving day, she moved, we stayed, and for the remainder of the lease we lied about where we lived. All that deceipt over smelly shoes.

I downsized gradually over a number of years from the 23 room 'museum' in a different state to my now tiny 2bed, 1 bath manufactured home. I went a step too far buying a glam one bed apartment and lived there going slowly mad for 5 years before buying this one. I love the idea of the tiny house movement but think one has to be a lot younger than me to get into it and there's always the parking and storage issues. Storage space was my issue in the one bedder and whilst I had a large courtyard for entertaining I still felt confined and it was a large apt apparently. There are more 'tiny' options available than the caravan type that are in vogue now and I recommend thorough research if tiny is your goal. I ripped out the kitchen in this house and designed a very good practical one which opened a lot of space enabling me to have a 2 seater couch, ottoman tv/reading area, my much loved cabinet as well as a spacious dining area leaving the main living room free to be the 'good' reception room. It doesn't look at all cluttered however one has to work at not buying extra 'stuff' in tiny houses. Each living area is semi open to the other allowing for private space without closing the place in and I have a lot of windows/sliders so it's very light now. (I also made a lot of insulation upgrades, necessary in this type of abode in this location) The bedrooms are smaller than I'm used to but have BIR's, it has a decent sized laundry room and the soaring gable ceilings help create interior spaciousness. The only bathroom is ensuite size, there's only me most of the time so it's not a problem and it will look more spacious when I get to renovate it. I used to consider manufactured homes with suspicion until I checked them out and like all housing options one has to do the homework especially when it comes to location (as with all tiny houses). I'm very lucky to have found the perfect spot for me with great amenities, very close to the city. It was the most affordable option too compared to buying a regular house in Melbourne which for me is a waste at this stage of my life, I'd rather have a life.