We are in a warmer area however put in undertile (inscreed) heating in the bathrooms. It is great. As it is not in the slab it does not take long to heat up and we have it on a thermostat which works well. It cost about $1000 for two bathrooms. A larger area would be cheaper as much of the cost was in the timer, thermostat and controls. We then did not bother with a tastic thing on the ceiling which is inefficient and just have a nice light fitting and a plain exhaust fan. I would see it as a must have. You might only have options for underfloor heating under a tiled floor with an existing slab. Have a think about slow combustion. They are dirty and dusty. The wood is a lot of work and can be expensive depending on your area. They may also take up a lot of space in your house and you need to have them close to a door to bring the wood in. They work for us at the moment as I am at home with young children. When I was at work it was an insufferable chore to get the fire going of an evening when I got home from work and there was washing to be brought in. I would see it as a "nice to have if you have the space, time and wood" Think about your lifestyle are you at home a lot or just after work? This will impact on what you need. I would go gas if I had access to it. Just make sure whatever system you have has zones and a programmable timer to reduce cost. Reinsulating your roof goes without saying and will make a big difference.

I put a lot of thought into what kind of sink to install ino my new kitchen: single vs double, stainless steel vs other materials, dish drainer or not, and finally undermount vs top mount. I went safe and chose industrial grade steinless steel, double sink without a drainer but with aditional part with multi purpose. I was very indecisive about the last thing: undermount vs top mount sink and finally decided after reading this - I will go top mount.

I spent ages figuring out the lay out of our kitchen and am really happy with the result (four months in). We put the sink on the back wall, under a window and love looking out. Make sure there is a bin drawer next to the sink. Ours goes bin, sink, dishwasher, drawers, stove, drawers, oven stack. I think the passages in your kitchen area are a bit narrow. We have 1300mm between the benchtop edges. People can then pass each other easily and it doesn't matter if the drawers or dishwasher is open. The island then has drawers holding the plates and cutlery. You can unload the dishwasher straight into the opposite drawers which the kids love. You have two lots of corner cupboards in the pantry and might be better off with one straight line as I don't believe you gain much more and it will feel more spacious. Consider leaving a space on the kitchen side of the island so you can sit too. I hate standing while entertaining and everyone else is sitting at the island! Hope that helps.

It always makes my heart sink when a client asks for a "no-maintenance" garden. It tells me they really don't care. In truth, any planting needs a certain amount of care. Plants, like animals, need care. It's true that they're slower than animals to respond to deprivation, but respond they do. And it's not a good look. You might not have a lot of time, or you may not be physically up to a lot of gardening. That's fine - you can choose plants that require a minimum of care and grooming, and if need be hire somebody to do that minimum. But it does require planning. A gardener actively engaged with their garden can (and will!) experiment, try new things, move plants around, notice when things are going right and wrong, and for them a garden is never finished. Contrast that with somebody who wants a garden they don't want to work in or at. They want a garden that is more or less "finished" the day it is installed, rolled out like a stretch of lawn and meant to "behave", to stay static. I can't do a garden like that! Plants grow! They change, the environment around them can change, and what might have succeeded one year is not going to do it the next. It is entirely usual for a planting that just nicely fits a situation to need complete re-planting a few years on because the individual plants have outgrown the site. That's work! It is entirely usual for plants to flower, and for those flowers to set seed and die off. It is entirely usual for some plants to shed leaves as part of their yearly cycle. This "mess" is treated by non-gardeners as a crisis, as a nasty surprise, as something the plants "shouldn't" do. Because it makes work. Well, sorry, but no garden consultant can change the laws of nature. If you want a garden, you've bought work, and if you don't want to do it, you're going to need to pay somebody else. That's fine. Just don't ask for what you can't have.