As always your ideas are lovely.....I will probably need to take some better pics..its a bit of a squeeze in that bathroom..maybe just focussed on things like the timber wall, the pressed metal, the new rose shower over the bath...its not a shower recess...no room! I'll try. The bathroom has a tall silky oak and frosted glass door leading out onto a northern slatted, roofed verandah...full of hanging baskets and flowering vines creeping in through the slats from the gardens outside. Where you see that old chair is actually the doorway...to the garden verandah..I dry off out there. I can see out but nobody can see in. I can loll in the plunge bath with the door open and see the garden and the plants so its already like bathing outside. If my mastiff is inside I have to close the door or he'll get in the bath with me! I used to bathe him with me when he was a 15 week old puppy the size of a 1yr old baby. His reward was ..the plug..replaced so many plugs..then we'd both dry off on the verandah. He misses his baths with me but he is now 76K. PRESSED METAL ....Maybe pressed metal higher up the wall behind the bath is the answer...and paint the remainder of the wall peppermint...mmmm? That was sort of a colour in the kitchen when I bought it..only it was smoke dirty. The shade of mint I like is too cold for the bathroom and somehow I "feel" it to be a bit insubstantial as a colour..not enough body...just how I feel about it. Good for a loo though. What do you think of a pale Olive rather than Mint green and a washable matt rather than shiny? . When I think of Olive I can feel my hand running over it as if it were a suede. You've led me to recall a range of paint I came across ages ago...RESENE...it has some beautiful metallics...maybe worth considering. A pale Olive would go with the Shell pink colour already in the bathroom which I really do love and, WHEN I get the pressed metal all of that will be Shell.( Hermit Crab's bathroom?) Don't like mini orb for the bathroom. .,So, pressed,metal it is although$$$....all comes to those who wait and know what they want! Maybe I'll go to town and do the ceiling in pressed metal too...and maybe continue the Olive into the ceiling...it won't feel so high and so cold....mmmm need to do a sample of that weird colour scheme I think....You've go me thinking! Funny that - I did paint the boards white initially but ended up stripping it all off, it just didn't look right and felt fake...silly isn't it? FLOOR - currently its the poor man's version...(thick vinol) of large Shell, marble tiles. with light grey grout. Like it. Its soft underfoot and safe....(not so steady on my feet now). I'd love a random stone paved floor but maybe a bit impractical...but...if I did a random stone up the wall behind the bath rather than the pressed metal, I would do the floor and would choose natural ribbonstone as it is a bit sandy-feeling and not slippery. Many years ago a friend and I put up a ribbon stone wall behind the fireplace....it has a pinky hue...of course. PIC here. if that came to pass I'd grout it in grey. How am I doing bouncing off your suggestions in all directions? FOUND SOMETHING online....textured, waterproof, paintable wallpaper! Tempting! Cheaper than pressed metal! I'd love the old ladder idea but sadly there's nowhere to put it. Fluffy towels...OH YES! And candles...that's not too hard...and want one of those heatlamp/lights. Clean towels and some bath essentials have a shelf at the back of the bath. Towels in use each have their own antique brass or copper. mini rail...( long plain handles from an old chest of drawers). Brass clothes hooks for robe and clothes.....and, with the house came an antique pine slatted chair with a seat curved at the fron under the knees and a high curved back. It is designed for inside the bath for someone who needs to sit under the shower rather than stand. The bottoms of the legs where they stand in the bath have been curved to fit the curve of the inside of the tub! Some dill painted it white. I am going to strip it back to the pine and oil and seal it...Strangely, it can also be used outside the bath and stands on the floor without juggling. SO.. mydesign 1401 you've given me an overall atmospheric idea of my bathroom and I'll hang out for the pressed metal...might need to re-do the old stuff around the bath and the strip around the wall above the bath because cannot find a match...its very plain. Just squares separated with rounded edges and a circle in each corner of all the squares. Its not even very pretty... but it isthe poor man's pressed galvanised iron metal. *****Tell me what you think of the colour OLIVE...for the boards above the metal and maybe continuing into the ceiling...maybe too much?

@Aimee, I know this dilemma was never about your layout and only about the "style" but sometimes it's easy for us readers to digress a little but it does help the author, you, to have a good look or a good think about it, leave no stone unturned so to speak!! This kitchen whatever the layout, only needs to suit you as the cook in the home. My kitchen is being designed exactly the same way, for me and not hubby or anyone else in the family as I'm the resident cook too. If for example, I placed the microwave in the usual spot above the oven, now seen in almost all modern kitchens, then only hubby could use it, as I'm terribly height challenged ha-ha.....but I'm having a wall cabinet placed far lower down on the wall, thus suiting both of us!! Again I'm not having any overheads, well a few slimline cupboards but they are like half the height of a standard overhead, so I can still reach the shelf but I'm not having any normal overheads, as they would be useless to me and I'm building for me not for anyone else, so if a future buyer wants overheads, nothing will prevent them from doing so. I see you have no overheads in your pics either, perhaps height challenged like me?? Currently, we're living in a tiny home (7sqrs) whilst building our dream home, my fridge isn't even in the kitchen, I have to take about 5 steps and travel through the lounge and into a back room to access it and I have lived with it for several years now and it's no bother at all but I must admit, it will be nice when it's back in the kitchen where it belongs, it's simply too big for this little home. Good luck with your reno, it sounds very exiting, I wish I was as advanced as you were!!! Finished pics would be lovely. Cheers, Barbara

Hi Magic M new kitchens have more drawers than doors. They also have soft closers on doors and drawers, as well as full extension runners on the drawers. Your kitchen is therefore immediately showing its age because it clearly has more doors and is probably missing the other elements I mentioned that are considered standard in today's functional kitchen. So it really comes down to your budget. If you have the budget I would replace the whole kitchen with cabinets (more drawers than doors) with a shaker style profile. Custom cabinets to the ceiling. Manmade stone such as Caesarstone benchtops. You could think about the same stone on the splashback as subway tiles are on their way out. If your budget doesn't run to a new kitchen then the Annie Sloan chalk paint as suggested is a good option on both the existing cabinets and the new add on ones. Any of your suggested colours in muted tones would work.

Sorry Darlene but that's just no good...........a big part of the problem here is your trying to keep the cut out alfresco/outdoor living that is at odds with the style you are trying to work with, and it's causing the squeeze/compromise to the main central internal living spaces. There's nothing wrong with this type of thing in concept but they require experienced hands to resolve elegantly as opposed to a clunky way.... Refer to the plan I posted earlier - there is not one dogleg to be seen. paths of movement are streamlined and neat and proportions and alignments are balanced. What you've proposed above here walking straight into the dining area is not a good option and it makes your house feel smaller - this may be justified in situations say when you have no space in an apartment or unit scenario.........your on 2 acres or something? - your home should feel appropriately scaled and with space to breathe....... There are different plan configurations that will meet your particular brief requirements but the problem you have is that you are locked into this particular perimeter that has developed and then in the process of trying to sort it out you keep forcing/rejigging everything within the same shape/format that is actually not a fixed thing Here are your options: (a) seek some pro design guidance with a professional who understands the style/language you are working with - but don't be surprised if the nominated budget is exceeded in a custom format (b) explore some alternative options what siri & I suggested in considering off the shelf solutions of similar style that may be more aligned with your budget (c) keep going the way you are doing your head in fumbling around trying to DIY design your home but clearly falling short of your vision Best of luck!