Cassansrabrill - This problem intrigues me quite a bit. Would you have the name and brand of that navy please? And thanks in advance! I am sufficiently intrigued with the idea of navy walls to obtain a sample pot and have a 'play'. Its been my life's work studying colour and perfecting a colour-mixing teaching text for artists that is irrefutable... so I am always interested in anything that challenges it. Living spaces are places where we need to feel 'at home' so not so much about what trends and styles dictate, personal preference always prevails. I hope you resolve your problem. I have a dark little house, all natural timber with arctic glass in all the original windows. Whilst it makes for privacy, when the light and sunlight 'bounces' of the disparity in the glass surface, its amazing how the light from a certain angle totally changes the otherwise dark walls of the room. Mydesign0401 would have experience with this too. Try the window film, there's a design for every style and preference, the cost would be minimal if not to your liking....and that's the operative word...LIKEing! I've just had an idea from something Mdesign0401 said...'vertical space'... Are you going to anything more with the ceiling? We are fortunate to have so many products today that you should not have any drama finding some sort of paint or application for the ceiling that will reflect the light downwards. A brand called RESENE manufactures "shimmer" colours.Some very interesting effects can be achieved with this product. If you likethe idea of navy walls you may wish to consider sampling the RESENE Digital Blue ()Astronaut)...that's the base colour... M40-046-279 The base colour is applied first then a transparent coat of what they call "Pearl Shimmer",.another is "Pixie Dust", both are waterbourne pearlescent glazes..=overcoats..(.not meaning shiny like varnishes). but nevertheless ideal for creating shimmering and softly sparkled finishes over colour. Alternatively, although I have not experimented with this myself (yet!)...from what I can acertain from the manufacturers...the "shimmer overcoats"...and there are several different types, I suspect may be applicable over...'ordinary-other brand' colours.....Just an idea...something I would try myself over either acrylic or enamel paint. Houzz is such an inspirational site!...from the above I've recalled that there's a clear metallic for application over timber... exciting! I'm like a kid in a candy shop whenever new paint products appear! RESENE's staff (not the retails stockists in hardware shops) are highly trained in properties of their product. Should you want any firther information I suggest you go directly to the manufacturer. 1800 758 383 QLD Gold Coast. Happy Houzzing!

Windows and doors may not meet the new building codes. The glazing in some is quite thin so may not be very efficient or even safe in some applications. Sure they can be repaired and have new glass, etc. but if you pay a carpenter to repair rotted timbers and replace glass for example, the cost of new unfortunately looks pretty good..... They would need repairing before they were allowed on site otherwise the builder will charge to fix up before he could use or they could hold up the whole job while they all wait for you to fix.... To have all windows and doors ready so they could be just picked up and installed would be the ideal process. Bricks are ok and can look great. No difference to a bricklayer but they would need to be cleaned of mortar and stacked, on pallets, etc. once on site. The recycled stuff looks great, something new items just can't compare. But theres always that $ figure attached to get them up to scratch. I'd say buy the most complete and best condition you can find that way theres less work for everyone.

Running cladding in opposite directions gives a contemporary look. Many examples I've seen seem to vary the profile width each. ie. narrow verticals juxtaposed with broader horizontals. You could clad base in a recycled plastic timber-look product or composite timber cladding. (Colour stable and no maintenance). Stone could look fab too. Painting it the Farrier would definitely be simplest. You could do a contrast with the verandah floor and its edge.

I love our glass splash back. We choose an electric blue as the rest of our kitchen has a lot of timber, white and windows. Easy to keep clean, withstands the heat of the stove and you can choose any colour you like. you can even match it with an existing wall colour if you wanted to. The aluminium one sounds good, but I think that in our climate with salty air and a lot of moisture it would show corrosion spots very quickly. macymacmaples, I agree that there are a lot of choices for tile, but the 'easy to replace' comment doesn't really make sense to me. Then again, I have no idea how easy it would be to replace our splash back, which is wedged between the overhead cupboards and the benchtop - I still love it though, even after 10 years!!!