I have been the reigning dessert queen in my family since a teenager. My mum always lamented that she didn't get the baking gene - it skipped a generation and went from my Grandma to me: my cakes and scones would rise perfectly each time, whereas hers quite often fell flat. Unfortunately, my mother's beautiful singing voice and artistic talent completely skipped over me. My four boys love it when I bake, although blending working full time and parenting and a house with a lot of work to do, does limit the time to bake. A good quality mixmaster is one of the key baking accessories for a lot of baking...but not for scones!!!

The simple whites are what I like, the lounge welcomes you to get comfortable and spend time and lose all the distractions, giving you a chance to refresh and refocus. The TV art on the wall is the highlight and draws your attention, and hides its personalities. Is it a TV at all?, Overall I chose number 9 for its simplicity and comforting feel with no clutter and with one piece to comfort the body and one piece to stimulate the mind.

Hi Donna, congratulations on your new home, exciting times, I have put together an idea of what you could do with your new home to take full advantage and really soak in those sea views from as many rooms as possible. At the moment it's a 2 Bedroom 1 Bathroom house, you haven't mentioned how many will be living in the house but a new master with ensuite will really make a big difference. The current sunroom is the perfect space giving you wonderful views from your bed. The load bearing wall is a bit more work than removing a normal wall but can be easily done if wanted and gives you an amazing open plan space over looking the bay. The plans supplied by the Real Estate aren't correct which is usual, I was told by an Agent that they now send measurements overseas and pay $5 per plan, so that explains a lot. In the meantime you can research ideas and when you get access have local professionals give you their ideas and costs involved. As I mentioned the flat pack kitchens are very good and a great option for someone like you planning to make possible changes in the future as they are easily reused and added to. I have added a photo of a kitchen making great use of a support post. cheers

In my early twenties I designed kitchens for my mother and two aunts (Uncle built them and they worked), but when it came to designing my own - had to fit a constrained space and no possibility of extension - I chewed my lips for ages - like Nicole, I drew and measured ad infinitum, and used graph book walls, views etc. I did one extra thing - which I think worked - I listed all that I wanted to store, and tried to analyse how I liked working in the kitchen. Some things I had to settle for because of space (such as a smaller dishwasher) but most of it has worked. We have a corner pantry, which I (and the cat, husband a bit larger) can walk into, but have not put small appliances in there - they sit in a large drawer beneath the main working bench, which also works well. It all looks good to me Nicole and thinking carefully about needs and how things work in advance usually results in something you'll be happy with. Good luck!