Lyn Huppatz raises a very valid point with moving, particularly for those moving from the city to the country. It is very difficult to feel you are really living or belong in a place if you are not accepted and these barriers can be very difficult to cross. I've just traded city life for what I hope is some peaceful country living to see out my days and this aspect did cross my mind with thoughts of how to try to cope with it. Fortunately, I've chosen a wonderful place where everyone seems to be a newcomer, basically all escaping the city hustle and bustle so the welcome I've had is amazing with invites to join many local groups and clubs, I doubt I will have time for them all. Maybe instead of wondering about ourselves so much, we should also focus on how welcoming we make our own particular areas for newcomers - how much would we like others to say they have lived rather than just stayed.

depends on the type of tiles and climate but our old concrete tiles lasted almost 50 years and had been repointed and painted in the last 15 years but ongoing problems with waterproofing convinced us to replace the old tiles with Colorbond steel roofing, fascias and gutters...(we also vacuum cleaned the roof space and installed new ceiling insulation, replaced all the old electrical wiring and added a power point and light inside the roof for future inspections) not very glamorous but the $150 we made from recylcing the old wiring was a nice surprise after all the hard work and expense!

Are you replacing like with like in regard to the footprint? Or do you need to pull out the existing kitchen to move walls for the new kitchen? Cabinet makers in my area are quoting a minimum six month wait just for the cabinetry. And stone benchtops are on a different timetable. It sounds Iike you’re a fairly new renovator. Do yourself a favour and go and pay the few hundred dollars to do access the information/course from Katrina Chambers. I have I no connection apart from having followed her since she was on The Block but she is very down to earth but her information will pay for itself.

Can you post a floor plan and a couple more pics? Do you need to the space to have functionality eg bookcase, study or just look appealing? I’d lean towards a long credenza, you may need to put two together and what house doesn’t need storage. I’d hang artwork above.