@jmm1837, My appologies firstly to the author for being off topic. One house I lived in didn't have plaster anywhere, just pressboard for walls, the stuff notice boards are made from, so we wall papered as paint soaked in by the bucket load. then lived in a caravan and now a little relocatable cottage, a glorified caravan without wheels I say but now hubby and I are building our dream home, I have no decor or design education and have simply done my best with the plan and now the build. Great advice about making the home, warm, comfortable etc...and I'm doing what I want and not following trends BUT unfortunately at times I am truly paralized by indicision, too many choices of everything from interior colours to simple door handles and when I put my head down to sleep, my mind goes into overdrive, sleeping at times only a few hours a night ha-ha Still enjoying the process but it isn't that simple to follow your suggestions!!! I'm sure as the home progresses, with less decisions to make, it will become easier.

Thank you @Creative Style Interior Design and @bigreader @Creativelychallenged - Thank you for your nice words. We are indeed very happy with the result. We also went through all these stages you describe, so don't feel depressed... there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Our research stage was so long and quite discouraging at times. We've always wanted to live in a queenslander, but our house is not one. This didn't stop us on going ahead adding some character to our bathrooms design (and kitchen). We started with the idea of making these bathrooms with a colonial touch but we found that it was not easy to find the elements we wanted (tiles, furniture, tapware) at a cost that would fit our budget. We learned that the type of tiles we liked (encaustic) were VERY expensive ($200+), traditional looking furniture was also very expensive... So we shifted to a more modern design...(not very happily though), and after a while of collecting ideas for modern tiles, furniture etc.. we felt quite depressed because we were compromising... updating our bathrooms with something fresher, but far, far away from what we really liked. In our view modern furniture looked very plain, streamlined and... boring, but we were doing 2 bathrooms (on a budget) so we were not prepared to spend a fortune, and we settled with modern. We ordered marble type tiles for the floor 900x600, and wood like tiles for the walls, and booked the builder to start demolition. Luckily for us National tiles called us saying that there was an error and the tiles they promised were not going to be available for 3 more months!!! Depressed again.... It took us so long to find something we liked (kinda) and now we were back to square one. Then my lovely wife said... Why don't we give it another go and try to make a more traditional design as we originally wanted.... So to make it short... we went back online with 'refreshed' energy and pressure (demolition already started) and found many things I coudn't find before: Floor tiles @ $25/m2 Subway tiles for walls @$16 the box on sale... Ensuite furniture and basin from Ikea Main bathroom furniture was an antique dresser we found in an op shop for $150 repainted and repurposed.... etc... In the end we spent approx $12,5K for both bathrooms in total :-) So, to summarise... don't dispair... just look in this website, on pinterest, magazines, google, etc... Play around with ideas and copy!... (you'll see that our ensuite is quite similar to the first photo in this discussion)... Good luck! :-)

The kitchen really is the heart & soul of any home, open to be used & viewed by family, friends and visitors. Ours was designed 16 years ago by an elderly couple, so definitely needs upgrading, new life, a new practical design and purpose. I just need to win Tattslotto and a talented kitchen designer! We renovated our ensuite, removing the pink rose tiles to a bathroom we enjoy, without wincing as we enter. It now fits our seaside village environment. The kitchen is very much an important project for the distant financial future . . . . . . .

Hi laddie93 It might be helpful to first establish the style of bathroom you want to create. You can do this by taking into consideration the style, age and location of the home in combination with styles that appeal to you. This might help you design a bathroom that you will personally love but also fit well with the rest of the home. Then look for colours to compliment that style, you can include textures and materials too. Compile these ideas into a design mood board and colour palette for the room. By having an idea of the overall style and colour pallet, you will find making the choice of individual items will become easier. Remember to also enjoy the design process, get creative! Exploring finished rooms on Houzz might also help guide and inspire you. If you're looking for extra reassurance on your individual choices, you can involve others by showing them the look you're after and if they think your individual choices will help you create the look you're going for.