@ sally wastie....Would have loved those pine kitchen cupboards....before they were painted. Had I a strong yen for :a bit of colour"...(and I do love colour), I would have had a new glossy multi coloured counter top, probably something very striking and then oiled the pine cupboard doors There were no work benches in the kitchen of my 1920s all pine cottage ( always say that the kitchen was an afterthought since it is positioned just of a hallway and consisted only of a sink and a wood burning stove.) I built a small bench/table using VJ pine slats I'd removed from elsewhere and then put a thick pine top that curved out from the small straight bench to form a little round kitchen table..Then came the fun, I painted the benchtop and table a datk teale colour, gave it a flecked faux marble finish and a couple of coats of high gloss waterproof varnish. Nothing terribly amazing but it did give the old...'kitchen space' a bit of a lift. Had a larger round kitchen table with a formica top and timber legs...so gave the table-top the same teale treatment as the bench and it now lives on the veranda that came a few years later. Yes! Teale of any shade always looks good with timber. The only pity was that the kitchen walls and ceiling here were terribly smoke stained and had been painted a really horrible pre WWII green. Begrudgingly, I repainted the walls but used a bright orange/yellow to complement the dark teale colour ( this particular yellow is a good colour to keep the flies out) and, in keeping with the era of the house, I installed a built in dark timber kitchen hutch found at the dump shop. The kitchen is the only room to have been painted and repainted....but still have the dark timber parquetry floors. If you get tired of all timber a few splashes of bright colour in well-thought-out places do not go astray. If you have vertical timber panelled walls and you are feeling hemmed in... a good trick is to stain a small section of panels a darker wood colour or with a coloured stain to shift the focus from all the timber. or you can bleach the timber panels lighter. This idea can create interest extending ceilngward from behind a furniture piece...say low display cabinet...or just in a section of wall. You enhance the all timber 'look' with an eye -catching timber panel of another timber hue...like having a mahogany panel set in a light timber wall... Just a few ideas for those feeling a bit claustrphobic in an all timber house....understandable, not all of us aspire to live in a log cabin...but if carefully accented, an all timber interior can be extremely impressive and will not date. This is a pre-digital shot of the glass panels I had installed in the wall around my bed head...its really faded PIC but you can get the idea. Looks better today since the glass has been decoratively frosted with patterns. The sunroom behind the bedroomThis is also a pre-digital PIC showing the little timber kitchen bench with the teale table top. The end and other side of the bench is stained timber. This little table seats 3 or 4. Pity you can't see the old parquetry floor here. Old formica table given a lift with a Teale coloured painted top...there's no room for it in the ' kitchen space'. Amazing what a little lick of the right colour can do in an all timber house.

Hi Andrew, I think you are asking what type of timber you can use to match your floors. You may like to consider either Karri, ( or Spotted Gum, Nyatoh or Tasmanian Blackwood) as these are readily available hardwood timbers in this varigated tone and grain pattern you have. It is also worth noting that Timbers that start out with red in them also actually fade over time to turn this nutty colour. Once you decide on a spiecies, your Cabinet Maker may also be able to hand pick colours to get the closest match. Hope this helps; regards Malcolm.

i'm guessing that a problem could be that the boards will shrink and create drafty gaps so i think my old builder dad would have laid the boards upside down, without nails to settle to the temperature and moisture in the room while he did other jobs for a week or two and then turned over the boards and, using a solid timber length to push the boards tight as possible before nailing and he would have probably appreciated the idea of adding some under floor insulation as well

Timber flooring is always one of the most popular types of flooring choices for households in Canberra. This is because it gives a warm feel to the house as well as having many other advantages. Many types of timber floors are durable and low-maintenance. However, cleaning and maintenance are still required if you want your flooring to keep their look for long time. This article will show you how to maintain timber flooring, making it look even better as time goes by. LAMINATE FLOORING First of all, a regular sweeping can always help you keep the floor clean. You can use an electrostatic broom, soft-bristled broom or wood floor mop. And sweeping in the direction in which the boards were installed would also help a lot, because this allows you to pick up any debris that may hide in between the grooves of the laminated flooring boards. Other than that, you can as well use a non-abrasive soft bristled vacuum head. Regular cleaning takes away the dust and debris, so when people walks on it, it would be less possible to create scratches. Liquid may harm the flooring. It just happens as we use the floors on daily basis. It wouldn’t be a big deal if you wipe the spills and dirts quickly. If not, they may damage your floors and cause stains. You can use dry cloth or mop to soak up the excess liquids, and then use a clean and wet one to remove any remains. After that, you can leave the surface dry itself or use a dry cloth. Please do not use traditional household cleaning solutions as they are likely to damage the coating of the floor. If necessary, use a pH-neutral cleaning solution. You can buy suitable cleaning solutions from a number of reputable flooring retailers and don’t forget to read the instructions carefully before using them. Use a rug or mat in high traffic areas. For example, entrances and spots near doorway. You can also stick soft pads to the base of furnishings in contact with the floor. This also aims to prevent scratches to the coating. If you have pets in the house, it is also a good ida to keep pets claws properly trimmed. ENGINEERED TIMBER FLOORING Use an anti-static or micro-fibre mop to clean your flooring at least once a week. Therefore you can keep away any gathered dust or dirt. emove any spills immediately so they won’t soak into the board and cause stains. Try not to use mops that are too wet. Only dampen the mop a little or use specialised flooring clean solutions. The less dirt you bring back home, the easier maintenance will be. So do place a rug and use doormats at the entrance to keep away most of the dust. Equip all your furniture with floor protectors such as felt pads on their bases, so they wouldn’t scratch or dent your floor. If the room is for office use, then your office chair also needs plastic pads or a mat set underneath the wheels so protect your flooring boards. https://flooring2you.com.au/how-to-clean-and-maintain-your-timber-floor/