I'm amazed that this discussion has carried forward for nearly two years! In that time I have moved to another coastal area (cooler climate and better proximity to children) and this time found most of the discussion still rings true. Finding another home here was an incredibly frustrating journey made all the worse by a mad investor rush in the area just when we arrived to start our home search. That search took the best part of six months and in the end there would only be three or four houses to choose from in any week. Result? A rushed purchase, a desperately inadequate building inspection and failure on my part to notice poor bathroom tiling, shortage of closet and storage pace, just how small the lounge room really was, and etc. I disappointed myself because I had let the pressures beat me and now we are trying to resolve all of these issues in a home designed and built by one of this states most respected project home builders 25 years ago. Having now studied the floor plan with more care I realise it was put together (designed) in modular fashion - most bedrooms have similar dimensions and the living areas are all approximately the same size as if the designer simply juggled three boxes of one size and four of another size and then worked out traffic flow. Then he must have thrown them all in the air to see how they would land and that was design number two! And etc and so on. This house aside, we looked at a great many during the six months because we had to broaden our search above and below budget trying to find something. There were massive termite problems, leaky roofs, asbestos galore, gazzumping at every turn, almost all but the most expensive properties suffered at least one substantial fail for the most basic of needs and to top it off the best home in our price range just happened to be built on flood prone land - approved by council who put the flood signs up less than five years earlier. We live and learn. Then there were the real estate agents, but that would take another two years and I doubt the internet has enough free page space available!!! OK, I hear you, they're not ALL bad...

When choosing a colour it is important to know which tints are in the colour and in what proportions. As I always use Dulux as a reference I will talk about how I choose from their palette, but no doubt all paint brands have a similar system. There is a large Dulux book that has literally thousands of colours you can choose the darkest version of a particular colour (with the ratio of tint the same) and work backwards from that. (you will need to ask for this book at the counter) It also makes a difference the "base" of the paint colour as some have darker bases which is indicative of how the final coat of paint will look on the wall. If you are matching your existing furniture then decide before you shop for samples whether it is a 'warm' or 'cool' colour. The colours you speak of (greys especially) can be either warmer or cooler depending on whether it is tinted with red/magenta and yellow/ochre or blues. It is surprising how even small changes in these proportions will be noticeable in the final wall colour. It is difficult to know whether a paint is going to look darker, lighter or brighter on a wall because it depends on so many other factors. I tend to look at a space and determine whether the walls need to be dark or light depending on the natural light source. Dark areas appear lighter when light can be bounced off lighter paint and the reverse is also true. Then consider the floor, do you want to contrast the colour (dark or light) or complement it. A cool colour wall will rarely feel comfortable with a warm timber for example. As someone said previously it is also good to have a white sample as a reference when choosing a colour. I generally paint all skirtings and architraves with Natural White as this is a nice soft white and a good reference for the eye. Don't be afraid that a darker colour will close a space in especially if it is a neutral tone, as these are generally soothing, but be prepared to need more light, even if it is artificial. The same cannot be said for a very bright colour, these do tend to be overwhelming as well as polarizing. All the best with your painting :)

We put similar gates on our first house, many years ago,ours were western red cedar, we bought then at a place on the Princes Highway at Arncliffe an area of Sydney, not sure if they still trade. try Trade Cedar Gates 0428268664 might be able to help.

HU - I really think you should start a new thread on this issue as, many people may not see this when it is an old thread. I've had different colours of the exact same carpet in a house, but there were rooms in between so it was never obvious, but two different carpets together is another thing again. How did you feel the green looked with the off white?? If you were happy with the two colours together, then you could put any colour you liked with it, otherwise maybe remove the carpet from the stairs, although that can then make the stairs very noisy. What is the condition of the off white carpet - do you feel it may need replacing soon so you could match whatever you do now, if it is a carpet that does not look like being discontinued in the near future. You may even be able to match the off white that is there. Another hassle with using two different carpets is the weave and texture can make them look more odd together than different colours. It is really hard to advise you on this, you really need to see the two carpets together, at least it is easy to bring home carpet samples to see just what you can live with. Good luck.