Sounds like white is the favourite :) Thank you all so much for taking the time to comment and help me out and all of the effort you went to ,to even find pics to help, Much appreciated x.

Hi there Nick, looking at your photos you look like a modern hamptons family which is lovely, do you live in a warm climate. I did like the photo you posted of the open plan living and think that you are on the right track with interior colours I have marked out how I would like the first floor, I have moved the kitchen to the end wall to line up with BBQ outdoor kitchen, plumbing for this would have easy access via the garage below. The white tiles look lovely and hard wearing for the entrance foyer and Rumpus room, the stairs in timber due to the amount of traffic even continuing in up stairs foyer kitchen dining living, Carpet in bedrooms and downstairs theater. Kitchen in white but possibly Shaker style white doors these are very popular. Using existing sliding exterior doors if possible from kitchen.Dining to verandah, I think this ceiling would be best kept white to help reflect light back indoors, the tiles appear to be in good order but you might consider changing these along with new upstairs flooring Some where for a laundry shute would be handy, actually a Dumb Waiter so you could move the laundry with ease both up and down! The roof painted a soft colour, grey/white or off white, the verandah railing could be the same colour or you could do glass. The builder had a very different style of house to what I think you are wanting. Your photo

Will look much better white BUT! Having done this to big old sliding doors and window frames in an apartment with more ‘steps’ in the frames there are a couple of things to watch out for. Sealing - as mentioned in another post is essential, if the wood is stained then the colour will come thru to the paint. I did this just as the manufacturers were getting the water based enamels right and have done several recoats since. Agree that Zinsser are great paints, I have used their wall and ceiling paints everywhere, cost more, are a bit more ‘drippy’ but also have a sealer component and actually do a real white that doesn’t yellow. They also last really well on the wall. When you transform to white - especially if you are thinking high gloss EVERY defect in the wood surface will show up. This adds to the charm or is a problem, depends on your perspective. I dropped back to a satin finish on wood trims. There is only so much prep you can do, sometimes it is easier to fix the obvious dings and then do another round after the first coat of white, after the sealer. This is harder to explain - but you can end up with a dark line around each window pane - because the glass is sandwiched between two pieces of dark coloured wood and the ‘inside’ of the wood shows through the glass and you notice it from across the room. I painted slightly onto the glass, a few millimetres to achieve a fully white effect. You only notice it if you look closely. Fly screens - wooden fly screens have the same ‘edge effect’ metal flyscreens are a bit easier to paint. They all look significantly better in white than the dark wood - in my case the two sets of sliding doors have very wide frames. Depending on your skills and patience you may want to get a professional. I am about to replace the south facing repainted bathroom and study windows with double glazed UPVC tilt and turn with white frames - no more arctic bathroom, jammed winder, condensation or mould. These are now made (licensed) in Australia so only have to pay for shipping from Vic to ACT rather than from ‘overseas’.

You didn't mention your spectacular honey-coloured plywood ceiling which is a beautiful feature. I think that stained timber skirtings and architraves will detract from your ceiling, especially as they will be a different timber, colour and look to your ceiling. You have white walls, you have white windows, why would you introduce a contrasting timber element in the form of an architrave? The only answer is to paint the skirtings and architraves in the same colour as your wall, so that they "disappear". The concrete floor, the timber ceiling and the raked ceiling have enough visual interest and you don't need any more. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls