Can I suggest looking into having a quantity surveyor assess your property (and you can claim the cost of having this done). They will provide a depreciation schedule for you which will tell you how much each item will depreciate in value over the maximum number of years you can claim. If an item is at the end of its depreciable life, they will tell you what you are able to replace. Even if you only have tenants for a short while, you are able to claim depreciation for a pro-rata period that your asset is income producing. What all this means for you in terms of design - there may be ways to improve the look of your property in line with what you will want it to look like when you eventually move in, which could gain you a tax benefit. Of course, you have to have the $$ to spend on it in the first place. Oh - and in terms of furniture - do you know about Casey Auctions in Hallam? they are close by and you may pick up some really good bargains. I know we did!

A couple of points to add with regard to the functionality side of things: Grey tiles, means grey grout which will be infinitely easier to maintain, every home that has cream or white floor tiles will ultimately end up with dirty grout lines, no matter how well you look after the floor. Grey tiles also hide dirt/hair etc better than light coloured tiles. From a design perspective, as long as you choose a tile that is quite simple and elegant, grey is almost always in style. Matching things to this colour palette is not so difficult, maybe stay away from microfiber chocolate couches though!

Hi Susan , thanks for your reply and update . It sounds amazing !!! I too have ditched all marbel whatsoever in our home. In the end I chose all black cabinetry ( polytechnic black Wenge) it was slightly warmer and has a grain. My bench tops are all Caesar stone osprey , including the kitchen island , scullery and benchtops. I have a large window splash back that runs along the oven etc . but also quite a lot of walls which I have tiled in an offshore herringbone .The colour of all painted walls throughout solver white delight . We have concrete slate tiling and the white warms this space. It sounds as though we have headed in a similar direction ! We are at the stage of build where the cabinets are getting installed / I'll take a pic and send - I'd love to see yours also ! Here is a pic of a kitchen that has the same elements and colours that I chose .

I remember hearing of the product in the original question, name added in a subsequent post. My immediate thought was that preparation of the surface is crucial and even more so for this product as it is very thin. This is what I found on the manufactiurer's website. "As far as old ceramic, cotto, stone, marble or PVC floors are concerned, make sure they are sound and firmly fixed. The existing floor must be dry, stable, sound, perfectly flat and clean, which means that there must be no brittle fragments compromising adhesion of Kerlite Plus. Flatness checking should be performed using a screed with a length of at least 2 metres. Place the screed on the old floor in all directions and, if necessary, compensate for any differences in level." https://www.cottodeste.com/solutions/faq?_ga=2.261653453.1349840659.1675227047-1392414663.1675227047