The next time I decorate by a colour of the year will be the first time. Don't hold your breath. I have nothing against this particular colour but it doesn't work with all the things I've collected over the years, and I am not about to discard carpets bought after hard bargaining with dubious merchants in Istanbul or Islamabad because they don't "go" with a paint colour that someone voted "colour of the year." In its place, I think the colour would be quite nice (better than this years choices, certainly). It's just that my place isn't the right place for it.

@Karen Hodge, I hear you!! Sometimes I think the estate agent should carry quite a bit of the blame actually. If they do their job correctly like you see in the adds on TV, they should bring these discrepancies to the attention of the sellers, stand on their morals and say if you can't get it better than this, then you'll have to find someone else to sell your home!! I know you can't make everybody "house proud" but the saying "do unto others" springs to mind. I bet if these same people bought a house not up to scratch, "a current affair" would hear about it but they don't think it wrong to simply walk out on a house that isn't being left nicely for the next family!! I have some friends that recently sold a house in Essendon, Melb and whilst the buyers were back and forth selling their own home, my friends kept watering the plants and even did things like painted out the wardrobes because of the scuff marks made over time!! They cleaned the entire two storey house from top to bottom and finished by mopping the floors as they were exiting. The buyers were so taken by the entire home, they bought it with almost all the furniture that my friends had in it!!

I found that a few basic towel rails mounted on the back of my wardrobe door works for me :D heels can hang on the rails, or i slot the toe of the shoes in behind the rail. If you've got a spare wall, mounting them on a wall would be even better.... and ballet flats in labelled boxes: 'Dark Coloured Flats' (navy, black) and 'Coloured Flats' (all the other colours ;) ) .....if you need inspo, just search 'shoe storage' on Pinterest. See you in a few hours. LOL

Hi charlie_com: would love to see more as your house plans develop. We bought a house in The Gap last year. So hi, neighbour! We are currently working on plans for short term and long term renovations. I came across your post when searching for advice about whether it would be a big issue if laundry doesn't have direct external access. I agree with others who have mentioned the condenser dryer: our laundry is currently not internal and concealed, but we bought one soon after we moved in (a Bosch heat pump/condenser dryer) and are really happy with the investment as it reduces moisture in the laundry area and is much more energy efficient. I must admit to using it a lot now, because of the energy efficiency, and it being so much easier to stay on top of the laundry. The Styling Edge's photo of concealed laundry set up reminded me of a house where I first saw this set up being sold in Ashgrove several years ago. It was very nicely renovated, and part of the fairly open plan living, dining and kitchen zone, leading to the back deck and then back yard. I remember thinking it would be handy to have a laundry that was so close to living areas and bedrooms and not be separated from the main living. The house had no trouble selling, so it certainly didn't seem to be a deal breaker for buyers. I think it could be more problematic if there was a long, windy route through or around the house, to get to a clothes line. And by the way, I did check out your other posts to see if there was more progress on your house, and spotted the mention of not having a rug for 10 years due to inability to decide, and had a bit of a chuckle: that sounds so much like me.