We have been a supplier of OSMO Hardwax Oils for a while now and have found that they have been great in all applications. They have an Oil specifically designed for Kitchen benchtops. OSMO Top Oil which is foodsafe and contains linseed, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, sunflower oil, soybean oil & thistle oil. You can buy it from VCS Products in Perth or Natural Timber Oils in Melbourne.

Different strokes for different folks, as they say. We have a butlers pantry, smallish, with a sink in it. The pantry has become effectively a walk-in pantry, with storage, a wine fridge and the toaster and microwave. It's very useful, but we almost never use the sink because there isn't enough practical counterspace and because, well, who wants to do dishes in a closet? We also have an island, with a single basin sink in it, and of course the dishwasher. That's where we do prep, and it works just fine for us. We can watch TV while pealing spuds or washing those dishes that don't go into the dishwasher. Even with the sink, there's still plenty of prep space, and we have a good work triangle between sink, oven on the wall directly behind it, and fridge, oven and pantry on the end wall. In practical terms, the arrangement works for us. When we entertain, we clean up and load the dishwasher as we go, dump the pots and pans in the butler's pantry, wipe off the bench, and we're good to go. And since it's only a single basin undermount sink, the look is clean enough for us.

I've coated many decks and the best advise I've been given is "leave it natural". Most timbers go grey after a few months and don't look too bad. If you want a bi-annual maintenance job the other bit of good advise I've had directly from the manufacturer is put down four coats minimum. The third and fourth coats won't use so much oil because they don't soak in. A very light sand between coats keeping in the direction of the grain is a good idea to retain a finish without wood grain or dust spoiling the final appearance. Two coats, no matter which brand or type of oil will last about a year in our sun.

with 90 year old paint you'll need to make sure that your wear safety gear and face masks as there could be old lead paint and asbestos in the house ...then scrape all the loose paint, fill all the gaps, repair and /or replace any damaged timber architraves and skirting boards (wood hardener is great to repair big holes in wood) patch any damage to cornice and ceiling with cornice cement and then use a 3 in 1 primer undercoat before the final painting and then sit back and admire all your hard work .