Choosing a real estate agent can be a difficult undertaking. Several elements played a vital influence in my decision-making process when I was choosing mine. First and foremost, trust was essential. I sought out an agent with a strong market reputation, one with a track record of successful transactions and great customer feedback. It provided me with an opportunity to assess their professionalism, communication style, and general approach. By the way, has anyone ever worked for COBALT CORPORATION PTY LTD? I've heard good things about their commitment to clients and real estate market expertise, but I'd love to hear your own experiences or observations.

Hi Lil, I believe your original plan works much better than the revised version. While the notion of ideal working widths is great, the larger problem here is the post. I worked on a project very similar to this last year where a post could either be connect to, or separate from the island. What we found was that by separating the island the space between island and post became very awkward. It's not enough of a space to comfortably walk through or be seated at the island in front of. Instead of your room feeling open and generous in proportion, it is going to start to feel cramped and awkward. We have a kitchen in our showroom (Kitchen Studio Tauranga NZ) with a 6ft gap between bench and back wall and it works wonderfully. It allows someone to work at the sink and a second at the island with ease. Stick with the original plan. It will feel a lot more spacious, without compromising work flows.

@Mc10 - We are also recirculating - and we are venting this through a gap in the kickboard where we will eventually also install a mesh / metal grill to keep bugs out etc. When the extractors in full flight it does throw out quite a breeze so make sure wherever you decide to vent isn’t somewhere that will annoy people who are sat - luckily where we vented is into where people just walk though. We hardly lost any storage if you look at the pic I posted what looks like the first drawer at the top is what we boxed in to price clearance and access - I think it was about 15 cms - not that significant as lots of storage space elsewhere.

While I sort of agree with you Christine , a really expensive place tends to feel more fragile to me -- you are too worried about breaking something IMO . And as far as providing employment etc , which is good , I liken it to classic cars , which is my background . These houses are comparable , to me , as say a 1930's Rolls Royce or Bugatti or similar . People will spend as much or more than what a car is worth , to get it back to 'original' condition . And even then , you are worried about leaving it parked , you don't drive it at busy times , and you definitely don't take it out of town . It's termed garage art -- mostly sits there . Supply and demand means your 1930's model might be worth as much as buying a brand new RR or Bugatti , it has character , but you can't compare the ride , the reliability , the fit and finish . These houses feel almost too precious to live in to me .