Hi Robert, Blue mountains heh???.....well you will sure want to heat the concrete but it would then be lovely to walk on. Remember solar won't be as efficient when you're in your winter so the floors could get quite cold if you have insufficient sunlight. Perhaps you could back up your heating with a boiler for example, the excess heat produced could also be ducted through to the other rooms for heating. Of course this then means oddles of firewood would be necessary. I agree with the first post, that you should take the polished concrete idea down the passage and to your "leave the gumboots" doorway, when you have snow. I'm guessing by your plan, that door would be near bed 3 but my the laundry looks pretty small but perhaps there's only the two of you. Lovely roofline by the way!!! If you're having a slab, you could get all the concrete polished, money permitting of course and then choose if you want to cover any of it completely or just with a rug or tiles etc.... Much easier and probably less costly to polish whilst there are no walls in the way save a few plumbing pipes exposed here and there. Look forward to seeing pictures when the home is complete. Cheers, Barbara

Hi Nadia What a fabulous space you've got to work with! For your dining table, something like this might work for you: It is modern with simple lines, and ties back to the glossy white cabinetry and kitchen bench tops you've got. The stainless steel will also echo the silver couch you've got in the TV area. I'd like to see some colour drawn through to tie your 4 areas (TV/media, kitchen, dining, kids/rumpus) together. The pantone color of the year is "Marsala" (http://www.pantone.com/pages/index.aspx?pg=21163) which would actually work quite nicely with the decor you've already got. Try finding some throw rugs, cushions and and floor rugs that feature that color, but make sure they're relieved by white, cream and/or silver otherwise they'll look too drab against your grey couch. You can also pick up another complementary color or two for occasional spots of additional color, particularly in the kids' area. To dress your couches in the kids' area to fit the rest of your decor and make it more harmonious, you could get relatively cheap, washable covers in a grey, marsala or even cream if the fabric is stain resistant. Please let me know if we can offer some more in-depth advice and if you're interested in us completing some mood boards that you could use to DIY, or (depending on your area) if you'd like a full consultation :) Best wishes, Natalie

I know of a few ways this can be done, but all depends on the job and what original adhesive was used. Water and vinegar method - allow the glue to become soft then try to pick off Acetone - let glue absorb then wipe off - careful with this as acetone will discolour your boards/remove varnish (could sand after to avoid) Warm water - wet some cloths and place them over the glued areas, allow to soften and then remove with cloth/pick off. Depending on the type of adhesive, you may be able to sand off - but beware that some adhesives will melt/clump and spread the issue further. Whatever you decide, I recommend getting a professional to come and view the works as they will be able to gauge the period it was done and thus the materials employed. Best of luck :)

Gorgeous brick pavers, I love that look for the floor! It has a rustic appearance yet you're right- sophisticated, even an elegance. I think this would suit the feeling I'm wanting for the room, the pine boards have a rustic appearance, this would go well with them. We have a 1m square oak table with cross back chairs for the dining section and a La Spezia 3 light pendant (Beacon), farmhouse sink, timber hood cover to give you an idea of the look we're going for. Thanks very much for your thoughts on this. I like the idea you're going with, but yes, we have the window and door in already. Door could be trimmed if necessary. It wasn't until the window was already made and the wall sheets and cladding was removed that we realised the original kitchen layout had the back door next to the window, and the door into the laundry section was a modification. I most likely would have put it back where it was originally or had double doors. It made no logical sense for the back door to be a thoroughfare through the laundry, eliminating valuable storage space. I may have just left the kitchen in the original layout and made an entry into the laundry from the kitchen side for a laundry/butler's pantry with fridge in there. Removed the side window for more wall space for storage and changed the existing door to a window. But it's too late now, the outside of the house has all been newly clad so doors and windows are as is. There's no other possible place in the house for a laundry. It is a very tight space. Plan to build an external laundry studio in the future. The one in the house would be temporary, yet need it to accommodate a washer dryer combo for now, and be suitable for prospective buyers/renters in future if the external laundry doesn't eventuate. This is the original 1960's floor plan. A previous owner made internal access into the laundry and made bench space where the original back door was, the next owners opened up the living to dining room and blocked up the hallway doorway which became the fridge space. The cornice didn't match up in the hallway though where the old doorway was. They had made a shelf from the cut out on the hallway side, and the protruding section in the kitchen side became a kind of bulkhead for the fridge. Old hallway We've rebuilt this so that it could have an upper cabinet on the kitchen side/ hallway later if needed. But the lack of space in the hallway didn't allow us to build a linen cupboard, so that will also be needed to be included somewhere in the house. At this stage, thinking we will have to configure the laundry space to have a linen cupboard/ broom cupboard between the dining room and laundry section. Open to ideas too for storage in that limited laundry area space. I'll add more measurements to the floor plan for reference.