Thanks siriuskey and Jen! I have been toying with this idea already.... also with making the current main bedroom into a living area (as it would make a nice sitting room, it has a great garden view). Actually, since I originally asked for help on here we have booked the job in with a builder & plumber.... still have to line up other trades but it's not happening until June next year. Below is the plan I ended up giving to the builder for his quote... but of course I am likely to change my mind about 50 times before we go ahead! Especially since as you'll see, the planned ensuite is too narrow, we will have to make it wider. RE having a WIR for the maswter, we decided a BI would be ok instead since we dont have many clothes and we'd rather use the limited space for bigger bedrooms. Also we had to double our budget to $100k as $50k (our original) wasn't going to cut it!!!! ( & we'll still have to be very careful with our spending).

Hi Lorraine, sorry I missed your question. I only bought this house a few months back and the glue has deteriorated anyway so I used the steam mop to test it out before I get new flooring. Because many animals lived in this house I was hoping the steam would help kill germs. I've read so many opinions on the use of steam on both vinyl and laminate so I'm at a bit of a loss now. One of my joeys has laminate and has been using a steam mop on it for 12 years now with no ill effects at all, despite that supposedly being a big no-no, but she found it so quick and efficient when the kids were toddlers particularly and the floor needed doing almost daily. I just have to wonder these days how much manufacturers are protecting themselves and not giving consumers honest information. How often do you buy an item of cotton clothing and then find the label says "dry clean only". This does not mean the item can't be washed, it is to protect the manufacturer from someone doing something like washing in boiling water. We need more transparency in care instructions, only then can consumers make informed decisions on the right product for them. If steam is going to affect the glue, then it follows water will too so then it comes down to just how do you clean your floors. Manufacturers' special products that are always ridiculously expensive are not the answer and having access to these products is not always possible for country people either. I believe there are two types of vinyl planks too - one type are glued down, the others are a floating floor which would not require glue, but I was told in the event of damage, a glued plank is much easier to replace than one in a floating floor. There are so many glues on the market now too, there must be one that could be used to reglue a plank that has come adrift.

Hello again, thank you for the input. I've taken it all on board. Regarding the island, we will be sticking with Knights Grey but if we choose a very dark floorboard, we will then switch to Timeless Grey (which happened to be one of the swatches I'd picked up anyway!) to avoid that sinking effect. Thanks for the tip. I won't be able to get back out this week to check the Dulux Raku colour, did I mention that I'm getting around with a 1 month old and 2 year old? They are totally dictating my schedule! Ann I'm not sure exactly how they get half strength. I just have the understanding that paint looks darker on a wall than it does on the sample card so to always opt for a lighter shade to counter that effect. So to avoid the Snowy Mountains colour looking too dark, I will go for a half strength. Worst case, I figure, is that it will just be a touch lighter than what I'd expected. There wasn't consistency between the three separate Snowy Mountains cards that I ended up with so I guess it's to be expected anyway. Thanks for sharing your experience Antonia, it's good to know it works. Today I went out to Beaumont Tiles to try and find a tile like the one I attached to my original post. This was surprisingly difficult to match and I've borrowed a sample of the closest match from the store to mull it over. The colour seems to work quite well against all my samples but I'm worried about the wavy edge and how it will appear on the wall when grouted. On the one hand I'm worried it will look too busy or untidy, on the other hand I think it could be a winner because it could add some depth or interest to an otherwise boring subway tile splash back. I've attached the tile against my samples and also Tranquil Retreat (half strength) wall with Vivid White trim. Please tell me what you think :)

I've been playing around with a pantry location. Originally, I was going to move the pantry into the laundry with some custom shelving and cut the laundry space in half. Now, Im thinking of cutting into the study area and building a wall there, and converting the new space into a long and narrow walk in pantry. Either that or build half a wall and put built in shelving in the study. Building the extra wall will reduce the need to cover in the door way that is currently in place and instead utilising it. Thoughts? p.s. this isnt too scale.