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.

@courton, I've been in a quandry since purchasing a sample pot of Lexicon as it was visibly blue although not so much in the quarter strength, but I too want a warm colour and not a cool colour. I have a sample of Dulux Light Rice quarter possibly for the walls and Dulux Natural White for the roof but I'm still not sure. I wanted to stick to brown tones as that is what seems to catch my eye and Light Rice is the lightest colour in the dulux colour wall in the browns and the Natural White simply tones in with it and no other reason. Will still have to wait till I can paint up a sample but I previously tried Stucco and Harbour Stone and both were a bit too caramely for me and too coloured if that makes sense, even though I have seen Stucco in a bedroom and kitchen and it looked great but just isn't working for me now that I've tried it myself. Interesting how you can see a colour in someone else's home and it looks great but when you try it yourself, you hate it!!! I have allot of windows and door ways and very little wall area and I don't want a jigsaw effect of colour running around these areas and be jumping out at me when I walk into the home, instead I want to have to look for the walls and barely see colour.

Bluemeeru, yes sink is on left next to dishwasher, which is next to the fridge. I never wanted a sink on the island for the same reason. Water splashes and there will always be something drying on the island. I like the option of having a totally clear island if I need it. Yes, I was worried the sink was too far from the cooktop but it works well for me. I did consider putting a narrow sink near the cooktop just in case I needed water during cooking but left it out in the end. The distance from my sink to the edge of the island is 1.5m. Dishes get taken out of the dishwasher and are put away in the drawers in the island nearest to dishwasher side, as my island is 3m wide. From there it is easy to take them out over the island to the dining table or serve the kids who sit on the island for breakfast. It’s 3.8m from sink to centre of cooktop, which could be considered quite far. I suppose I have gotten used the distance.

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).