Hi Kim, the post was called 'ideas for a small kitchen' it's still on diseign dilemmas page three. Poster is hechlan. Yes, a white kicker will get as dirty as a stainless steel one. Although maybe hidden a little better. M reason for mentioning this, as stainless kickers are an early 90's thing, and will prematurely date the kitchen. I have designed kitchens for around 10 years now, and while they have a place, as in you want to tie into your stainless appliances then go for it. I would just consider your options first. The positive is that they will coordinate with an kitchen, however with a white kitchen, they may take some attention that the kitchen itself deserves. Try to create something in your kitchen unique to your layout, and that is long lasting enough to enhance your own aesthetic. Kitchens with personality usually have quirks from the owner, and this may well be one of them for you. My only reasoning is that I wouldn't want you to just do it as the cabinetmaker has been doing this for several years now. White get dirty, so does stainless, they both get mopped, and the stainless actually has a scribes surface which I know is harder to get the dirt out of. We used this in showrooms, and know from experience that flat standard laminate is far easier to clean that stainless kicker, regardless of the colour. Ask your joiner for a piece of laminate and stainless kicker, feel them for yourself. They often use HPL, high pressure laminate to make kickers, and not often LPM, low pressure melamine, as the HPL is far more durable. The joiner can explain th difference, or atleast know that you have looked into it.

The choice of oven will affect the layout of your kitchen. You want an efficient layout, which is what I'd describe as the working triangle (fridge, sink and oven/cooktop). The advantage of 2 wall ovens is that you can be cooking 2 things simultaneously (like a roast and desert at the same time - 2 completely different dishes) which makes your time in the kitchen more efficient. There is a trend towards multiple wall ovens for kitchens, so this will add value to the property as kitchens are a major selling point. If you go ahead with an underbench oven I'd recommend it to be 900mm wide and with a matching cooktop and rangehood, because it a family home and anything smaller will not cater to your family or add value to your home. The picture below is an example of a kitchen with multiple wall ovens. For this particular project, there is a butlers pantry where you'll find all the electrical kitchen appliance including the microwave. I would also say butlers pantry's are very desirable at the moment and even necessary like an ensuite. From the floor plan you've provided it looks like your pantry is open, you could consider installing a sliding door to achieve a butlers pantry. The other option for your microwave is to include an open shelf in your island bench. Just make sure you have a power point installed which shouldn't be an issue since you have the dishwasher located there also. Good luck with your project. Looks like you have most of the major design questions resolved.

Emily A permanently roofed al fresco will reduce some summer heat gain (although sitting out there may be uncomfortable) and will do the same for winter. From scanning the comments it appears that you are at a point where you can still may major changes; I cannot recommend strongly enough getting the orientation of your new home right, it will be warmer in winter, cooler in summer and be significantly cheaper (if not free) to run with some appropriately detailed insulation. I do understand the appeal of a floorplan that seems to be all you have aspired too but have seen many a case where people have later regretted those decisions. If you are unsure about the pros and cons of various floorplans then get a design professional (building designer/architect) to give you guidance on an hourly rates basis. good luck

Hi renovationsnovice, Looks like a large home proposal, the ground floor plan is a little hard to read as there seems to be a number of edit attempts. Reading your initial Brief, to the extent that you have posted it appears that you might benefit from revisiting the brief, and perhaps coming to some compromise on some of the preferred areas. There may be a few items that you might consider on the drawings posted; The Upstairs areas seem not to relate to the downstairs area in terms of bearing, this could reduce some costs by having top walls bearing over bottom walls. The new width of the family room you propose at 8.5 m - for domestic construction this is a significant requiring decent size steel beams and steel columns - if it could be avoided it might result in some worth wile saving in both money and complexities. In all two story's home I always advise my clients to have an office/bedroom/guest room downstairs as it often serves for emergencies when someone breaks a leg or an elderly relative visits. (unless you can prove that such life complexities will not visit you). Its great that you have provided an airlock between the garage and the main passage, if you could locate the stair in this area you could regain some of the space lost by the airlock. There are other areas that my require editing, however it appears that you may have to settle some of the larger areas before you can move on to the next edit. I would be happy to comment/work on this project. Regards Michael Manias - mm407p@gmail.com Manias Associates - Building Designers