Firstly...are you sure they are jarrah and not som other more exotic timber? If you are fortunate enough to have a genuine 1932 built cottage I say "Don't Do it!" Just look at the beautiful timber in that floor! It would be sinful to paint it. I have a 1924 cottage with beautiful hoop pine floorboards all from the day it was built. My suggestion is to have the boards sanded and polished. I would not even dare go near them with polyurethane. I have turned back the clock and used the methods of the period of the house...a mix of pale boiled linseed oil and kero. Put it on with a mop or a deck mop or a wool mop leave it soak in. Re-do and leave it soak in,,,( you won't get patches...the floors will just soak it up.) Third coat, add a bit of turps to the mix as a white ant deterrent. Then, when the floors look like they've soaked up enough, get a big old fashioned string mop...if you can find one...or use a deck scrubber and old towels...or even a wad of new ones...100% cotton...its worth it, and rub off as much of the surplus as possible...wear sox so you will notice when the sox do not get oil stained anymore. First go is a long process but you will be really pleased when the floors have had several "drinks". After that you could get just an ordinary floor varnish or oil or just a sealant. Some of the modern wood treatments are really good. Then, every so often do the boards over with your "Oil Mop". You will never find timber like that again and, in my experience, it adds to the value of the house big time. Do what you like to any gyprock and plastered walls but PLEASE love your floorboards and any natural timber...especially from that era. I've been in this old cottage for 32 years. Everyone wants to know where I sourced the "new" floorboards", and who did I get to make my silky oak windows! Hope that helps.

Wow! Overwhelmed with all the responses and some great ideas put forward :) I should have probably stated in my first post that I am trying to keep it to a pretty small budget (was thinking of even going down the Ikea route for the cabinetry etc and installing myself). This is because I have spent my life savings on a $810,000AUD house (so don't want to spend more that 15k on renovating I am only 30 years old :)) I do realise I am going to have to spend thousands to get the flooring sorted. Good to hear that you guys think it will be possible to get the wood to match. I am very particular about these things so was thinking not to do it. Responses below in the order they were posted :) Chanop thanks for your help - I think changing the shape of the kitchen to an L or C might have been a good idea when originally designing it but with the middle island already plumbed and with electrics with 2 dishwashers (I will most likely remove one) I think ill just have to stick with it considering my low budget. Is there something wrong with have rangehoods recirculate? Just thought it would be easier as I could do it myself if it wasn't vented outside. I definitely want to get more drawers than cupboards for the lower cabinets - good idea. Was thinking of moving the microwave into the pantry as it has power and we don't use the microwave often anyway. Mrjudsonjames I agree with you on not changing the shape - I really like your idea on moving the sink to the island and i think I will definitely have space if i remove one of the dishwashers that I don't need. Yeah fridge size is definitely an issue with the current space - hadn't thought of storing more food that doesn't need to be refrigerated in a refrigerator - interesting. Fridge wont fit under stairs unfortunately would have been handy - however i plan on having more storage under the stairs (not sure how to execute this yet). Bec - Yep definitely good idea with the sink - am definitely going to try to do get that done :) I'm not really sure what you mean with the half height windows - have you seen an example somewhere you could post? Yep white all the way in this instance - it all feels way too dark at the moment. sstop - not sure whether the wall behind the fridge is load bearing or not might need to get that checked out. However, removing might be a project for the future as I don't have a huge amount of money to spend. Good idea - maybe i will look to see what I would fetch for the freestanding cooker on eBay (it RRPs for around 7K) not sure. I hadn't thought about staggering the joints and this will definitely help - thanks. LouieT - Yeah the layout is a bit of a disappointment - but the terrace house was originally built in the year 1886 originally so definitely going to be some quirks. Yeah I agree on not moving the plumbing going to cost too much. I'm not sure about adding a return as it will enclose the kitchen even more with the bench still there. I want it to have more flow than it currently does. I love the idea of a pendant light! I will definitely have to get one of those over the island - great idea!! dohraime - Yeah as I said to LouiT don't like the idea of removing the island seems like a waste of plumbing and electricity i want to try to make it work even if it's not perfect. Yeah unfortunately the cabinets are of an odd height. Definitely getting new cabinetry to replace them. I am already concerned about not having enough storage so losing those top cabinets to open shelving scares me a little. bissym - WOWWEEE! Your plan really excited me - not sure why when the place was renovated 10 years ago they didn't do it that way would have been WAY better. I am definitely keeping this in mind for phase 2 of my renovations. Not sure how much it would cost to knock down walls etc will get a quote at some point. Now my main focus and problem area - is the kitchen and your plan doesn't effect that area really. Will definitely be ripping of the big curved granite benchtop on the kitchen island as soon as i move in. OK so I hope I didn't forget anyone - and I definitely have got some fantastic ideas from you guys. So my main take home points appear to be currently just trying to sort out the island and fit a sink in it, changing the cabinetry to accommodate a larger fridge, getting floorboards to match and putting up some dangly lights.

Hi Jodie and okLouise! Thanks so much for your feedback. I was considering an island bench just to try space out the kitchen area a bit - the only issue with this option is that we'll need to do a bit of rework on the jarrah floorboards due to the gap left once the internal wall is removed. This is definitely something we're considering, I'm just cautious that it could be a tricky exercise (acquire the fill in sections of floor board, have a tradesman secure them/nail them and arrange sanding / oiling of the small section). I'm also a little cautious that the fill in section of flooring will stand out like a sore thumb... but we'll weigh this up and make some phone calls to see how tricky this would be. Sadly we don't have a floor plan. I'm going to sketch it up in AutoCAD once we've taken measurements of the entire house - this might take a bit of time though, so we thought we'd just start by measuring the kitchen / lounge first. Without trying to confuse you, the rest of the house is: - dining room through the internal opening (no door) right of the kitchen - internal door opening to hallway and bedrooms/bathroom opposite the kitchen - laundry on the wall on the RHS of the kitchen (from the views provided) And you're quite right Jodie - I was hoping to have the range hood as a feature! I think it will suit the style of kitchen that I'm going for. See the inspiration photo below: I am not entirely sure whether to go with dark cabinets because the space is so small, so I'll most likely stick to white (I know, safe and boring) but the overall style of the kitchens is what I'm going for.

The kitchen of the managers house attached to the 1885 Bank building was in urgent need of renovation. Amoungst other things, the psychedelic wallpaper on the ceiling (from an update in the 1970's - I assume) had to go, along with the green cupboard doors, etc. It needed to be a high-end renovation, but without the high-end price tag, so the purchase of 28 sq.m. of "Ambrosia" marble tiles from Greece on eBay for $800 was a good start. The pattern for the Ambassador Stone benchtop was matched to the tiles, along with the colour of the cupboard doors and walls, and the order was placed with Valley Kitchens in Shepparton. Interestingly, the original butlers servery was still in the kitchen, and to keep it in the existing location meant that it dictated the height of all the overhead cupboards. All of the demolition and preparation work was carried out by me (to save some dollars), and apart from some minor cuts and bruises, it all went to plan. The cracks in the walls and ceiling were repaired, and the walls and ceiling painted in preparation for the installation of the cupboards and benchtops. The old lino floor tiles and masonite underlay was then lifted, revealing that all of the staples had solidly bound themselves to the floorboards, and had to be individually removed. Plumbing and electrical preparations were next, with the location of the sink being moved from the middle of a wall, to in front of a window (which appears to be where it was originally.) The 1970's backsplash above the sink and in the fireplace consisting of white ceramic wall tiles were removed, and an adventuresome plan for acrylic backsplashes was conceived. Six weeks from the quotation date the cupboards were being installed, and the following day laying of the marble tiles was commenced by local expert Richard Watkins. In the meantime, the concept designs for the backsplash were sent to Akril for their feedback, and after some toing and froing, a final design was agreed. The day the floortiles were finished, the backsplashes arrived, and were also installed by Richard. They looked amazing!! The pattern on them was an old map of the Euroa township from the 1800's, overlayed with photos of the Bank building from the late 1800's and early 1900's, and there was 8 separate pieces in total, all cut exactly to size. They completely complemented the cupboards and benchtops, as well as the butlers sink, antique taps, original butlers box and bells, and servery. To add some modern touches a Bosch dishwasher, a 900mm Westinghouse induction cooktop, a 900mm Delongi oven, and new pendent light from Schots were installed. The overall completed look is absolutely unique, and has totally exceeded the original concept. I hope you agree from the photos on my member name under Likatibro.