Know thy self... you sound like you're bobbing around in an ocean of ideas and safety nets and don't know whose life rope to grab. Take time out to look at addressing a few aspects of yourself : * the dynamics of yourself as an individual and the needs upon you and of you in light of your desires for better feeling and functionality of the space * then let's select pieces, items and collections you feel compelled to hold onto for one reason or another * group things and find the unique story that is you ... your family ... whether letting go of or even moving toward * then start incorporating the reno decisions to compliment and contrast, moving outward with the eye and feel into other areas of your home * if working from a blank canvass then pull pics from magazines and start a collage or a number of boards to express interpretations * another idea is to simply sit in meditation... close your eyes, relax, in your minds eye walk into your dream kitchen. Picture this by yourself, as a family, entertaining and any other occasion you experience. Have fun! Let me know how you get on. I'd love to see pics and know your thoughts and feelings around the choices, not decisions, choices.... you made :)

Hi, would love to get some comments/advice on the colour palette to use through out the rooms. What is the best way to work this? So you pick one colour as the dominant colour for the house? Thank you :-)

We chose brushed nickel for all the taps/towel rails/etc in our ensuite renovation and I love it. I had the same thought as others that some timber would add warmth. We had one made in hoop-pine ply. It wasn't expensive to go direct to a cabinet-maker - but we didn't really have a choice as the vanity was going into an existing niche and anything other than full width of the niche would have looked wrong. Don't think cheap and nasty with hoop pine ply. It's beautiful and it's all in the finishing detail. When we had our kitchen done the kitchen people told me it would be considerably cheaper to have 2-pac kitchen cabinetry.

Oh most importantly I forgot to add, it’s a massive big sand hill I’m building on. 1500sqm lot, which I’m subdividing and selling one lot and developing the other. The back of the block which faces the ocean has a 6-7m steep drop, with an equally steep front access. I have been perusing all the architectural designs and reading lots of info on Houzz - which I absolutely love! I think I’ve even found my architect from your site too.