White-tail spider in my track suit pants WHICH I WAS WEARING! I thought it was a lump of lint from the laundry, drew it out, and promptly flung it across the room once I realised... never to be seen again! How it didn't bite me and sat still to be picked up, I don't know - it must have known I wouldn't do it any harm. We lived in lots of country places, too... We were invaded by small black crickets one year, and lady bugs, another year, in your drawers, in your hair, in your pantry, in your undies... everywhere! And then the blue tongue lizard that would go in and out with our dogs via doggie door, and made itself a nest in our laundry... I gave up and left some old towels for it. Had an echidna get up into the wheel well of our car... wild brumbies in our patio... the list goes on. My husband still says that the most unwelcome visitor was his mother... I like her better than he does!

I think a really nice patterned quilt or bedspread. Try and strike a nice balance between your mums taste and yours. Make it like a little retreat for her... Include some nice hangers in the cupboard and a spot to pop a suitcase up... Like a nice wide ottoman or a wooden slat bench. I don't know what they are actually called but I picked one up second hand and they often have them at hotels. Maybe also put up some old photos of you and your mum from when you where a kid. I've seen framed old toys too... I guess just some touches to show your mum she is welcome and honoured. I have a few bedspreads and linens I inherited from my parents and my parents in law. I always put them on the bed when the respective parent visits. A dressing table would be nice too. With her own sets of toiletries. I would include in the cupboards extra blankets, a dressing gown, slippers, some extra coats and the sorts of things that the she might forget or not want to bring every time. I think its more about the little touches. What colours would she like?

Wow! Overwhelmed with all the responses and some great ideas put forward :) I should have probably stated in my first post that I am trying to keep it to a pretty small budget (was thinking of even going down the Ikea route for the cabinetry etc and installing myself). This is because I have spent my life savings on a $810,000AUD house (so don't want to spend more that 15k on renovating I am only 30 years old :)) I do realise I am going to have to spend thousands to get the flooring sorted. Good to hear that you guys think it will be possible to get the wood to match. I am very particular about these things so was thinking not to do it. Responses below in the order they were posted :) Chanop thanks for your help - I think changing the shape of the kitchen to an L or C might have been a good idea when originally designing it but with the middle island already plumbed and with electrics with 2 dishwashers (I will most likely remove one) I think ill just have to stick with it considering my low budget. Is there something wrong with have rangehoods recirculate? Just thought it would be easier as I could do it myself if it wasn't vented outside. I definitely want to get more drawers than cupboards for the lower cabinets - good idea. Was thinking of moving the microwave into the pantry as it has power and we don't use the microwave often anyway. Mrjudsonjames I agree with you on not changing the shape - I really like your idea on moving the sink to the island and i think I will definitely have space if i remove one of the dishwashers that I don't need. Yeah fridge size is definitely an issue with the current space - hadn't thought of storing more food that doesn't need to be refrigerated in a refrigerator - interesting. Fridge wont fit under stairs unfortunately would have been handy - however i plan on having more storage under the stairs (not sure how to execute this yet). Bec - Yep definitely good idea with the sink - am definitely going to try to do get that done :) I'm not really sure what you mean with the half height windows - have you seen an example somewhere you could post? Yep white all the way in this instance - it all feels way too dark at the moment. sstop - not sure whether the wall behind the fridge is load bearing or not might need to get that checked out. However, removing might be a project for the future as I don't have a huge amount of money to spend. Good idea - maybe i will look to see what I would fetch for the freestanding cooker on eBay (it RRPs for around 7K) not sure. I hadn't thought about staggering the joints and this will definitely help - thanks. LouieT - Yeah the layout is a bit of a disappointment - but the terrace house was originally built in the year 1886 originally so definitely going to be some quirks. Yeah I agree on not moving the plumbing going to cost too much. I'm not sure about adding a return as it will enclose the kitchen even more with the bench still there. I want it to have more flow than it currently does. I love the idea of a pendant light! I will definitely have to get one of those over the island - great idea!! dohraime - Yeah as I said to LouiT don't like the idea of removing the island seems like a waste of plumbing and electricity i want to try to make it work even if it's not perfect. Yeah unfortunately the cabinets are of an odd height. Definitely getting new cabinetry to replace them. I am already concerned about not having enough storage so losing those top cabinets to open shelving scares me a little. bissym - WOWWEEE! Your plan really excited me - not sure why when the place was renovated 10 years ago they didn't do it that way would have been WAY better. I am definitely keeping this in mind for phase 2 of my renovations. Not sure how much it would cost to knock down walls etc will get a quote at some point. Now my main focus and problem area - is the kitchen and your plan doesn't effect that area really. Will definitely be ripping of the big curved granite benchtop on the kitchen island as soon as i move in. OK so I hope I didn't forget anyone - and I definitely have got some fantastic ideas from you guys. So my main take home points appear to be currently just trying to sort out the island and fit a sink in it, changing the cabinetry to accommodate a larger fridge, getting floorboards to match and putting up some dangly lights.

Honestly, the best Christmas gift I ever got was an engagement ring from my fiancé. It completely surprised me because I wasn’t expecting a proposal at all, let alone on Christmas morning with our whole family there. That ring will always be special for obvious reasons, but also because so much thought went into picking the style I love. Getting engaged during the holidays really changes what Christmas feels like for you. Later on, I realized there’s a lot of info and tools online to help design engagement rings, which makes the whole process easier if you want something totally personal.