And to you, and to Chook too, of course. Sydney just has the best fireworks, doesn't it? Though I'm glad that Mr Dog and I don't live there. It'll be rough enough here. Row, I think you've done a great job. Yes, the roller blind may no longer live in that room. Thanks for sharing the other pics -- see, you were dreaming of pattern on walls before I came along.

1 All items and boxes must be labelled, BUT all the destination rooms should also be labelled (except maybe kitchen) because removalists don't know from the first second which is "Kid1 Bedroom" etc. In the case of furniture, it is really worthwhile having a rough floor plan worked out beforehand where you want the furniture pieces. This way removalists can do their job without you having to stand there giving instructions. 2. If you have a big enough car, bring all the important things like coffee machine, boiler, cups, drinks, lunch supplies, vacuum cleaner, as well as documents, cameras, jewellery by yourself. Fill your Esky or camping fridge with the cold stuff from the fridge. 3. Definitely de-junk before you go. OR designate a space in the old house for things you WONT take, and deal with that later. Between now and your moving day, try to consume as much as you can from the fridge. 4. Pre-pack as many things as you can before moving day. Don't skimp on wrapping paper for fragile items. Once we had to move on a really, really hot day. We got everything unloaded into the empty double garage first, and then later moved things into the house. This helped the house stay a lot cooler. Have a good move!

Unless you have a showpiece kitchen or a kitchen not used much, grease mainly, not dust so much, is a fact of life in a kitchen irrespective of a good quality rangehood and unless one is like sallybrown168 put it, OCD, who wants to be doing more cleaning than less?? I live 50+km away round trip from my nearest safeway, so when I shop, I buy multiples and when I finally get down to the last of something, I write it on the fridge list. Have tried to train everyone in the house to "put it on the list" so we never end up running out and having the dilemma of needing to travel so far to buy a single necessary item. I guess it's because I live so far from the town that I can't forget something and it's not just kitchen needs, it's everything like the bathroom, laundry, pets and livestock as well. I stock up on bread that is frozen immediately, so I'm sort of a mini store and sometimes neighbours that don't store like me, will call me up for something they suspect I will have stashed away. In closing, I like the look of the open shelves and agree with ozcoley that you can see what things you have but I can see it just as well behind a pantry door too!!

Lots and LOTS of suggestions there! My idea is big, (and expensive), no tinkering with whats there but rethinking the use of the whole space. I think it would be great open the whole thing up by removing the laundry from current position, removing all the dividing walls and using all the space for longer kitchen and island, running parallel with the back wall. Extend the kitchen cupboards the length of the family room to include laundry-in-a-cupboard, then put the loo under the stairs off the living room, backing into the left hand end of the kitchen. The whole space would be open, with the kitchen a tiny bit further to the right (because of loo position). Big glass along the front, paint all those beams white, no timber interior wall, Gorgeous! Big job though! How game are you?