Hi chook! Just a quick pop in to see what's going on and I see where your daughter is getting a new bed. It is very nice and she will love it, I'm sure. So glad you got the winning bid! Exciting, huh? Talk later. :)

Also love the buffet....it could be the "hero" of the room. It is beautiful and they are so hard to come by at a reasonable price. I have a much cheaper style mid century buffet and initially had the TV on top of it, but now the TV is wall mounted above it. The distance between the wall and the couch wall is about 4m and we have no issues with the TV being too high...you definitely need to factor that in if you wall mount it though...luckily I had a handyman friend helping me, otherwise I would have put the TV too high. With the TV being mounted, it actually makes the buffet more of a feature and anything that is put on the buffet is now "displayed" instead of being part of clutter with the TV. It looks great and I know yours will too if you wall mount the TV. That is the great thing about the mid century buffets...they seem to fit in just as well as modern furniture as they do with the classic furniture....and because your is "classic", it will never date...a great investment.

Daniel, can imagine you don't deal with a lot of fire places in QLD but South of that we do. It's like any beautiful old building we need to respect and conserve what is already there, a new addition can allow for more sleek and modern design. I had been very fortunate to own a beautiful federation house which was simply white inside with polished floor boards, fire places mostly timber, when we sold the new owners striped all beautiful arch ways and all exterior Fret work. I have recently seen an Architect show his work on this forum where the Bull Nose verandah's and metal posts were removed "they weren't original", even though they would have been a 100 yrs, and were replaced with more modern square posts. Look at what is happening on the North Shore Pacific Highway, the past government (Labor) has approved multi story apartment blocks along this highway destroying beautiful heritage houses and gardens to do this and losing any historic charm a big lose for Sydney and Australia , and while not doing anything to update ANY transport to support .this Conserve what we have as is done in other countries for future generations cheers

Hi Mel, Kitchens are an integral part of any home and particularly a busy family, so much to consider. I personally think an Island clear of any sinks or utilities makes for a more workable space. It lends itself to food prep, kids homework, meals, guests perched on a bench whilst you prep. Sinks always accumulate mess so I think a sink put to the side works better. Gone are the days where you will stand at a sink hours at a time. Think about how you like to cook and use a kitchen a cooktop not far from the sink works best think straining pasta pots, vegies etc.. As for butler's pantry's I'm not a fan, why spend money on a lovely kitchen only to be cooped up in a small kitchen off to the side, very unsociable. Houses are made to be lived in and sometimes that comes with a little mess particularly in the kitchen. Don't hide away in a butlers pantry embrace your home and kitchen and all that it entails. I recently completed a kitchen with a similar colour scheme to what you are suggesting black, white and timber, I anchored the kitchen with the black Island and used white cabinets for the rest of the kitchen. Matt surfaces are on trend at the moment as opposed to gloss or semi gloss, matt finishes hide finger prints and children's hand marks better, dust will show up on darker surfaces so be mindful of this. I adore natural materials and feel that a timber floor really adds warmth. Take a look at the kitchen I recently designed for my clients, would love to hear your thoughts. Happy to assist you any way - Good luck with your renos. Thanks Collaborative Interiors