One thing about white walls is that you can easily put a naturally transparent colour (like yellow without whit in it) over the top if it starts to feel too clinical...really hate all white, large 'antiseptic' spaces...feels a bit soul-less, makes me wonder as to the state of mind of the inhabitants...= no personality, or just being trendy or...not wanting to 'show one's colours'. Don't trust 'empty-feeling spaces'. Love your riotous colour ideas! My walls are natural timber and I would not dare paint them,,it would be almost a sin! Am inspired by mahogany stained faux panelling here and there for a more luxurious look. When I'm bored or my head is too full I watch a soapie in which the house and the office are very grand places...strangely most of the walls are stained panelling and dark timbers..so bohemian style with a touch of multimillionaire residence! YOUR BED You say you cannot find what you are looking for...do you have a picture in your mind of the bed you want or don't you know? Could be a good idea to either do a sketch or several and see where the pencil leads you or maybe draw a definite pic of your dream bed. Alternatively, write it down..:"I want a bed that has......etc", This often helps to focus your thoughts...and...I've found that putting it out there either in a sketch you keep on a wall or writing it where you will come across it often seems to "call" the desired thing to you and all of a sudden...viola' there it is when you are least expecting it. Have fun!.

What a find! Most houses of this era in Sydney have been gutted and renovated or bulldozed. Agree with all previous comments on keeping the general era as is, just freshen up. Definitely do the left hand window, either a tart up or replacement. Only disadvantage with pulling up carpet for the (no doubt beautiful) floorboards is that they didn't exactly have the same building standards back then! There may be gaps between the tongue and groove, or patchy lengths if they were always going to carpet over the top. You will probably want to insulate under them too. Possible better to keep the carpet until you have the money set aside for any eventuality of replacement work. If you don't want to keep the interior trim timber, just make sure you sand back the layers of estapol that would have been put on the over the years. The original was probably an oil based stain with shellac over it and others would have been added over the top. Many undercoats or stain blockers or even ESP claim to 'cover up' old stain etc, but in the 6 houses I have done for myself, and 13 houses I have flipped, I have not seen any of them work properly. Colour from underneath still bleeds through. I use a Black & Decker mouse with 80 grit paper to rip the top off, then go back over it with 120 or 140 grit. Make sure you have a P2 mask on while doing it! It is a bit of work, but worth it in the long run. The finish will be smoother, the colour more uniform and you won't get bleed in the future. A Pascol undercoat on the trim, then Dulux Natural White (which is a soft white with warmth) low sheen on the walls and an Aquanamel in the same colour semi gloss (or gloss if you like that) for the trim. It is a colour that takes on the characteristics of whatever colours you put with it, unlike a stark white that screams against anything competing with it, or a tinted white that you need to compliment. As for landscaping, I agree with Annie Cass. Homes like this were of the traditional English era and were complimented by an English country garden. Quite formal with borders, roses and flowering shrubs. Very thirsty too! Annie's suggestions are the Australian version of that though you will have to keep the cyprus' down. They do grow quite tall and will block the view/sunlight from the front. The RHS of the driveway looks ripe for Jasminoides (star Jasmine. They require little are of soil for planting and little water once established. Green all year and have the most glorious scented white flowers. Unlike Ivy or some other climbers, they are not invasive. Run some steel cable along the fence through each of the uprights (drill holes and thread through with turnbuckles on the ends) for it to climb on. It will be the only thing you need down there as it should take off nicely with all that sun! Just make sure you poke the tendrils back and train them regularly to keep it on the wires and keep it trimmed back so as to not block your driveway. Most of all, have fun with it!

Changing flooring in open plan is always a difficult challenge and the light carpet is the bigger problem because of the contrast cutting up the pure Scandi vibe. Pure white kitchens are always cool looking I think you have 3 kids and your kitchen will warm up when you get the coffee machine, kettle, chopping boards wooden looking accessories in there and on the bench topwith a couple of green plants, fake or not. Take a trip to Ikea or browse their catalogue and website - their stylists are a great inspiration. You don't have to get your stuff from there but they are very clever at layering. When we go we always take a camera for those little touches which makes scandi look so clean and fresh. Invariably when I get home I have something similar I can repurpose. Dump the office vertical blinds I agree! they have to be the ugliest thing ever invented. If privacy is not an issue leave the window bare. And what's with the 1980s old fashioned security screen across the kitchen window? No Scandi ever had wiggly diamond flyscreens! Loose that too. Whoops that sounds a bit harsh :-) Funny thing about living somewhere is - after a few weeks you won't even notice, I have lived with the same damask wallpaper in the hallway for the last 30 years - its back in fashion again. I spend all of 10 seconds walking down that hallway, I think everything gets a bit precious when it comes to picking things all at once, better to let the space evolve as you live in it.

4 weeks to completion, from the wall removal and new window install, this kitchen now has a whole new feel to it. the island just makes sense and removing the daggy tiles to reveal the original floorboards makes all the difference. not to mention the new appliances and their clever placement plus endless cabinet storage space.