Having lived for years with a front loader in the kitchen under counter and now with a good sized laundry I am resenting the laundry for the space it wastes! I would rather have a "european solution" and a good en-suit and walk in :) really it is a matter of how you want to live, in reality if you spend your life considering resale you won't enjoy your home, prospective purchasers will love or hate whatever you do, those that don't want a space solution will be the ones who want the big ensuite and robe anyway! Do it with love then others will love it too, good luck

Hi Karina. Haha very funny re your art piece, KitchenAid! Baking is so much fun; I'm a baker from way way back, and you learn by just jumping in and doing it. About the height of your combined dining/bench table, it's pretty important to have a height that's comfortable for you whilst you work. I'm tall and my family is too, so we had the benchtop height built higher so we are not getting backaches from constantly having to bend over to work. It's really more important for the one who does all or most of the cooking & baking to be comfortable as you can spend long periods of time reading and working out recipes, then putting it all together. Likewise, if you are shorter, choose a table that suits you. Best wishes and keep us posted.

Hi there Nick, looking at your photos you look like a modern hamptons family which is lovely, do you live in a warm climate. I did like the photo you posted of the open plan living and think that you are on the right track with interior colours I have marked out how I would like the first floor, I have moved the kitchen to the end wall to line up with BBQ outdoor kitchen, plumbing for this would have easy access via the garage below. The white tiles look lovely and hard wearing for the entrance foyer and Rumpus room, the stairs in timber due to the amount of traffic even continuing in up stairs foyer kitchen dining living, Carpet in bedrooms and downstairs theater. Kitchen in white but possibly Shaker style white doors these are very popular. Using existing sliding exterior doors if possible from kitchen.Dining to verandah, I think this ceiling would be best kept white to help reflect light back indoors, the tiles appear to be in good order but you might consider changing these along with new upstairs flooring Some where for a laundry shute would be handy, actually a Dumb Waiter so you could move the laundry with ease both up and down! The roof painted a soft colour, grey/white or off white, the verandah railing could be the same colour or you could do glass. The builder had a very different style of house to what I think you are wanting. Your photo

The right coffee table, throw and wall art are not going to be enough to disguise the fact that you have downsized from a much larger home with your large, dark, formal furniture that dominates a compact room. Have you considered moving pieces to other rooms, or selling it, and buying clean-lined, contemporary style furniture off eBay? This style will fit the proportions of your room, and make it easier to live with your dust free strategy. The beauty of second-hand furniture is that when you can afford to upgrade you can sell it again on eBay. and recover your costs. Never paint perfectly good pieces of timber furniture as it will devalue the pieces. Sell them as is, somebody will cherish them as they are. I would keep the couch, decide on the tone of your new timber floor, and use these two elements to decide on the rest of your colour scheme. Your celing fan/light is also a distraction, so replace with something sleek and contemporary that is not such a feature. Your room layout is problemmatic with the number of doors coming into the room, but it is hard to suggest a better stategy without a floorplan. Best of luck with making this house your new home, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls