Know thy self... you sound like you're bobbing around in an ocean of ideas and safety nets and don't know whose life rope to grab. Take time out to look at addressing a few aspects of yourself : * the dynamics of yourself as an individual and the needs upon you and of you in light of your desires for better feeling and functionality of the space * then let's select pieces, items and collections you feel compelled to hold onto for one reason or another * group things and find the unique story that is you ... your family ... whether letting go of or even moving toward * then start incorporating the reno decisions to compliment and contrast, moving outward with the eye and feel into other areas of your home * if working from a blank canvass then pull pics from magazines and start a collage or a number of boards to express interpretations * another idea is to simply sit in meditation... close your eyes, relax, in your minds eye walk into your dream kitchen. Picture this by yourself, as a family, entertaining and any other occasion you experience. Have fun! Let me know how you get on. I'd love to see pics and know your thoughts and feelings around the choices, not decisions, choices.... you made :)

Wish i found this Q &A before. So many beautiful people advising and sharing here! I am Repainting Tropical Queenslander with dark red and orangy timber floors and this thread is so helpful. I painted Whisper white and it is throwing so much Green it makes me so sad I am going to repaint. I get loads of tropical sun in the north facing - with eastern morning sunlight. Was just about to go and buy Natural White just to cover it. Do you think it will be too dull/warm a colour. I do like a fresh feel and contrasting with vivid white decorative trims. The whisper white looks nice For a while in the morning while the morning sunlight throws read up onto it but then it returns to a green

Ooooh I love the first collection of samples! I like the mix. If you are not a fan of white kitchens, you could consider having a bank of cupboards (either high or low) in a colour (perhaps a muted colour which would work well with the glare). Or if colours are not your cup of tea, perhaps a bank of cupboards in the timber/veneer you have chosen for some warmth and texture. So long as it works with the blackbutt floors. I'm planning my kitchen reno at the moment and am leaning towards white cabinetry on two walls, a bank of low cupboards in a mint-grey green, caesarstone bianco drift bench tops, and handmade white tiles for the splash back (like you I prefer matt or semi- gloss surfaces). I want the texture of handmade tiles to break up that feeling of a white sterile kitchen.

Thanks, it’s not so much mould as it is a bad smell. I have mould allergies but I haven’t been getting any respiratory symptoms. I agree though I don’t know what I’m doing so that’s why I come on here for advice. Now I regret the cabinets & will have to figure something out. The Kaboodle kitchens cost a lot more than the Ikea ones. Now I think the Ikea one was a waste of time. The $2000 did include the $500 hood range. I’ve found the cabinet maker rude and I’m disappointed now as I was so excited to get this done. It’s just hard for me to organise anything as I work a rotating night shift / day shift roster which is always changing along & I have insomnia. Going forward what recommendations would you have? Just pay the extra and buy a Kaboodle? I’m going to ask the cabinet installer if he can change the panels to matte (might be easy) he was a very rude made though and I’m not going to hire people off Gumtree any more. He demanded all the money up front when he hasn’t even put in the range hood which js not available in Ikea yet. He messed me around saying the cabinets would be delivered on two days when they weren’t without so much as letting me know, don’t wait around they won’t be there today. He ended up dropping the cabinets over the day before install. I will pay the extra and get it done properly next time to save the stress and so I won’t feel bad communicating my concerns to him.