to suancol......a 'yellow/pink based beige'? Having trouble trying to get my head around that colour and 'seeing' it in my mind's eye, suancol! If one had to mix it up....could it also be described as a...pinky beige with some yellow in it... or a yellowy beige with some pink in it? Or is it a pre-mixed colour that can be bought off the shelf so has an actual brand name? I'm very curious! From what I've learnt about colour..and what comes from mixing this with that...I've learnt that BEIGE, like GREY, is one of those indefinite hues that can be a combination of several colours.,,,its not a colour in itself... I was looking at a designr's page where many of the bedrooms featured were in Grey and I was surprised that I really liked some of them...so serene and pearly soft....then it dawned on me, Photography combined with Photoshopping is very clever today. I bet if I painted a my bedroom exactly in those grey colours it would resemble a tomb...probably because of the amount or quality of light coming into the room. So not a fan of grey for interior decor, nor a fan of beige...whatever hue these are. Not crazy about all white interiors either where the colour interest comes from..."pops" of this or that.

Tribble - I think we're seeing this from two different perspectives. I want a house that isn't going to go up in flames while I'm inside it. I'm prepared to accept that the house might go up in flames, but if it gives me good time to get away, that's okay with me. Random embers are not going to set a fire-resistant wood deck on fire; it will take a lot more than that. And by the time the fire is that powerful, I would be long out of there. It was the "stay and fight" mantra, not fire resistant decks, that killed people in those bush fires back in 2009. By the way, the fire requirements where we were (NSW) required roof sprinklers. Turn on the sprinklers, and the deck and everything around it, the sides of the house, etc, were all going to be hosed down, and nobody had to be there to do it. Just turn on the pump and get the heck out of there. You might want to look into those, because for me, the knowledge that we had those sprinklers was a big security feature. We also had fire resistant screens all along the side of the house exposed to potential fire, so, again, it would have been difficult for embers to get in or under the house. And yes, we had requirements that the subfloor be protected by non-combustible walls. They required concrete blocks to protect the subfloor area. A massive bushfire would have taken out the house, maybe, but there was enough there to protect us long enough for us to get out. And that's what matters in the end. I don't believe you can totally fire-proof anything except a totally concrete and steel structure, with nothing but concrete and steel inside it. 9/11 showed that a concrete and steel building will still burn because of the combustibles inside it. So, it's a matter of risk assessment based on the best advice you can get, and that often comes from the guys in the RFA. The OP should find out what the actual regulations are, and then talk to the guys that actually deal with the fires, and base here decisions on that.

Interesting range of comments - Is it that there is a general shift towards an industrial trend? Topic is far too close for comfort, as I have a bathroom being tiled in a couple of days, have had tiles for a couple of months now, so doubt does set in!! A while back I probably thought I would go towards a traditional look, but looks like I have moved towards the industrial - which the family are fully supportive of - young adults and husband. Our home is . . . transitional, though I hesitate labelling it. Also these images make me wonder if a cool grey is a more traditional look and a warm grey more representative of an industrial look or modern look? These are my tiles: Left pale grey/white for ensuite floor and walls, with white cabinetry work, centre mid grey for family bathroom & laundry floor, with white cabinetry work, right mid grey to darker grey for a large open plan area of kitchen/dinning/small sitting area. They all feature flecks of whites, greys, taupes, even tans and blue greys.

You are kind to say that, Julie. Hubby also washed and polished the floorboards in the two rooms we decided to retain. They look much better as well. This has been fun project; don't quite know what I'll do with myself after it's completed! :) although, in saying that, there is the garden here to keep us occupied...!