Here is the old house..lower cedar undergoing clean and is now all oiled. Window trims on right painted in dune. Ok. So had heart attack yesterday. Roof painter came out. I am at work. He and my son decided to ‘colormatch’ my already woodland grey painted posts and decide ....yes it’s armour grey....I had told both days earlier woodland grey...now have an armour grey roof which is same as windspray...don’t know whether to laugh or cry..more cry actually. Heart was set on woodland grey and dune trims. But I did really like your windspray..so confused now what to do....any help would be appreciated.

I think it looks good. I would probably just echo a lot of the other comments. If you want a bigger ensuite, I think you can sacrifice some of the space from the main bedroom to make the ensuite bigger. Bedrooms 2 and 3 will probably require more storage, especially with three children. The cupboard in the entry looks a little odd. I would probably just extend it so that it was the same length as the wall. Otherwise, it appears to be pretty narrow, so I would think about how it is intended to function and whether a bench seat with some baskets below the bench and some hooks above the bench on that part of the wall would meet your requirements. I do think the main bathroom needs some work. I don't think three toilets are necessary, but you definitely need to separate the toilet for the main bathroom. I would also consider trying to turn it into a three-way bathroom, perhaps by keeping the powder room toilet in the current position, but flipping it so that you enter from the opposite side (which also means that you won't see a toilet as you're walking from the entry to the living areas). I would have an open double vanity where the shower and single vanity currently is and I would enclose either a combination bath/shower or a "wet room" (perhaps with a frosted glass door to still allow light from the window or include a sky light above the double vanity). I would consider whether the study requires built in storage, whether open shelves or hidden storage. I'm also not sure what the "d" in the laundry is, but I wonder whether a larger walk in pantry wouldn't be more useful. I personally would not like the living room to be completely sectioned off from the kitchen and dining areas by full-height walls and doors. There also appears to be a bit of dead space between the kitchen bench and the dining area. This will facilitate ease of movement, but I wonder whether you could widen the "galley" part of the kitchen by moving the bench towards the dining area. I'd also have a think about how you would furnish and use the living/sitting room. It looks like a large room and it also appears that you're losing a dedicated "play room" (although the study may serve that purpose until the children are all older). Good luck!

We eventually decided on Dulux White Duck for our exterior, with the garage door in Basalt, like the guttering. I’m not a huge fan of shutters, but they seem to make the windows bigger, so I left them, as the awning fittings, which will be reused with different fabric, we’re done originally to accomodate the shutters. We’ll box in the hideous columns, which are (far too) white, and then will repaint them. I’m now trying to choose exterior lights. I don’t like coach lights, like the existing lights, but don’t want to get something too modern, which would suit the house, even though I like modern fittings better. So...white? black? Stick to a more modern style of coach light? I’d really appreciate any ideas. Thanks

Renovating an older home that’s already seen a few changes can pose a number of challenges; a Feilding project proved no exception for Refresh Renovations specialists Wayne and Anna Gordon. “There were all sorts of head-scratching questions,” says Wayne. “The home-owner’s father was an old-school ‘brickie’ and it was important to the family that we retained a brick archway he’d created between the dining room and kitchen. We complemented it with work that continued the curved theme dictated by these features. Another special feature is the striking circular window in the vestibule which the owner’s father rescued when a granny flat was added to the house. This was no straight-forward makeover and building consents were required. A corner and exterior wall of the kitchen and one external wall of the dining room were removed; the sub-floor in the kitchen and dining areas were replaced because they were uneven and not strong enough to carry the slate tiles – this had to be carried out without disturbing the brick archway; a porch was encapsulated to enlarge the dining room, the entrance from the old kitchen to the new dining area was moved and a new vestibule added ; the kitchen was reshaped; a brick fireplace and chimney in the wall between the laundry and the dining room was removed as was an under-used and under-sized hall cupboard - the reclaimed space was integrated into the new laundry which was remodelled to create a modern space with plenty of storage, integrated drying racks and appliances; a doorway to the laundry from the house – something which had not previously existed – was built; and, perhaps one of the more challenging aspects, the curved tongue-and- groove ceilings in the kitchen and dining room were implemented. Wayne delivered on the Refresh promise, says the homeowner. “The people he works with are all excellent and the end result is exactly what was wanted.” And while there were a few finishing touches to be completed, the project was delivered in time for a special family event – without the addition of trade vans and power-tools! Check out this entire transformation here!