This ia a really old article. My third drawer now houses all those 'one off' bits and pieces that don't warrant a drawer for themselves and their ilk. Amazingly, when I need...that thinamejig or whatzit that would do the trick its always in the thrid drawer. tangled up with all the other 'third drawer' one offs. So - third drawer for whatever you need! Pretty good system really. Apologies to the professional cabinet makers who cater to the super organised...drawers with partitions. Honestly, if I absolutely had to live according to the norm.."a place for everything and everything in its place" I'd go a bit batty trying to remember what was supposed to occupy what partition and I think, the way my mind works, I'd feel quite frustrated. I don't have time to be super duper organised down to the colour coding, the things of square or round shape, the plastics and the chinas...and I certainly do not posess a china cabinet where to display all the expensive and heirloom dinnerware. that would never get used...can't see the sense. In fact, I only have six drawers in my kitchen and a nice large 100yr old built in linen and pantry cupboard down the length of the hallway that was built to house the basic kitchen utensils and also has room for any modrn appliances. My kitchen is small, functional, individual ane compact, My beautiful wrinkly assistance dog has his own drawer...and he diligently takes out and replaces his "stuff". My bits and pieces live in the third drawer and when all is put way there's a sense of ease in my kitchen.

Do you have the list now from the builder of ALL the things they want to approve at the meeting? If not, get it - take a week off work, delay your meeting and research like mad! You need to see everything in real life, not a picture, if possible - so go to the company's stockists - and see what other options are available. (Your builder won't accept too many ideas from stockists that aren't his own. I held out for a bath with an armrests and a headrest - but pick your own battles!) Look at every room on Houzz - laundries, lounges, mudrooms (especially since you're in the country), kitchens, bedrooms, study/home office - and check it against your list. You will be asked to decide on things you never knew existed - bullnose (rounded) or flat edges on your kitchen benches, for example? Cornices, architraves, doorstops for goodness stake (for some reason, our builder went with silver doorstops - we went with gold). My experience is that just about every default option a builder puts in for you is wrong . . . go armed with your own pictures, brand names and numbers. (Yes, I want the IZ450, not IJ320.) If the builder has some display homes, make sure you look at all of them (top of the range to bottom of the range) for ideas. For a country house, maybe consider half-panelling on the walls in the kitchen and maybe dining and lounge rooms, or some ceiling roses (yes, you can still get them) to give an old-style feel to the room (and you'll need rounded cornices if you go for the ceiling rose). Honestly, this is the most exhausting, draining and stressful part (well, apart from signing the cheques). But the effort you put in now will be well rewarded. And I think Hamptons and French Provincial style are mostly white or white-ish? So Barbara's colour recommendations are spot on. PS Have you asked for hidden drawers behind the kickbacks in the kitchen?

@ jeannie...that's Oipe, my dancing Queen...despite her size she's very nimble and does a little dance for her bowl of dinner. She's a Norwegian Forest cat. In the winter she grows another coat on top of her shorter curly woolly one...not FUR but a long straight coat of waterproof wool! Here sh'e in between seasons so no "Puss in Boots" UGG BOOTS and no gaucho pants! Can you imagine that!? After one litter she decided she wasn't doing that anymore...and I was sort of glad too....with all that wool around her nether regions! She gets shaved mid Spring, looks very funny but its more comfortable for her. Her favourite red mate 'Yodle' is smaller. Oipe is classed as 'red' ( ginger) even though her coat colour is much closer to a pale apricot. Have a friend who collects all Oipe's wool from her periodical groomings and her annual shear, spins it, crochets baby clothes and sells them...much in demand, better than Alpaca and as rare as....cat wool! I think Oipe weighs a bit more than 22lbs. Everyone is taken by her and she's such a " lol-about and couldn't give a darn" that she allows all the attention and loves it. My lifestyle is every bit as fantastic as it is just plain hard Aussie 'yakka'. I planned that this house would be where I lived and died. All sounds so romantic and close to Nature...and it is...but one can get really muscle sore, and brain weary working oneself into this lifestyle. Thankfully I am quite a strong Aussie country woman now..but getting here from being a thin city lizzy with not much strength, let alone country naus, was an ordeal I thought I would not survive. I've needed every bit of brain and braun I could accrue... and all on my own. I've met some wonderful country folk who have taught me bush skills I never knew existed. Did you know, for example, that we should never kill ants? Black ants are the natural enemies of the white ants or termites. You need to know where your black ants live and keep them fed so they'll stay outside and hunt the termites. If you find termites just surround them with a handfull of sugar and bring a clump of dirt and black ants to where they are...you won't need to spray...ever! Once they know they'll alert all their relatives near and far and anything wooden in your dream home will be safe. Glad you all like my story..THANKS...it makes all the hardship all that much more worth it! Oipe reaps the full benefit of my, at times, sore, tired body. When I'm flaked out on the lounge from hauling in the heavy ironbark firewood for the night...she just ambles up and plonks her voluminous self right in my lap and up my chest and decides I need grooming and exfoliating with her raspy tongue. Then I get a massage! She purrs and vibrates like an idling diesel engine...its kinda relaxing! P.S. Never thought anyone would catch me wearing Jeans! The only place I wear a skirt is to church..and sometimes I'm too tired to be botheredironing it...so have a pair of Sunday jeans ...there's no such thing as a day of rest...but time for the gentler jobs...like cooking enough to last the week! All the girls get together for that...NICE. I think I'm one of the lucky people!

emerald..don't know how you full time mum does it..I wouldn't be able to cope lol I only work part time and yet on the days I work I don't even look after myself properly lol. took the kids to Yum Cha today so I bought groceries at Melb Central before hopping on the train back .. just making a stir fry tonight..was going to have stir fried noodles..turned out my Hokkien noodles are expired..this is the reason why I don't buy stuff beforehand lol so will wing it and have with rice..one wok wonder with some scallops from the freezer.. my kids are easy they don't ever whinge about what I cook they know better..as sometimes I don't cook at all lol