ckat0076, you are most welcome. The porcelain tiles are fantastic. I have always been a wood floors lover and have lived with wooden floorboards for 20 years. But I must say the tiles are sensational, they have just been the best option for our family. You do not have to worry about anything happening to them, yesterday I dragged a big sideboard across the floors and no marks. No more worrying about water on boards. The only thing I could say is the tile I chose turned out to be lighter, when laid over the large floor space. The sample tile looked darker. I cannot remember if your house is a new build or a renovation as we had to have a 15mm screed under the tile. If you have any questions at all, I am happy to answer honestly.

Hi Kirsty, could you please advise the colour of your vanity and whether it is a custom made one and if not, could you let me know its name and where you bought it. Also, what is the colour of your floors tiles and where did you get them from. (I have come to the conclusion that charcoal/dark grey tile plus a much lighter grey tile plus white on some walls plus a timber vanity or timber accessories in bathroom , plus white (or close to it) below sink counter top is the way to go for a beautiful bathroom. The trick is figuring out exactly what proportion of each colour to use and where to put them for each particular layout.

I'm with Trek, dark flooring just shows up too much mess - over a large area it will even show dust, especially if it gets sun. I really can't understand the need to put tiles on kitchen floors, they are so hard and unforgiving, especially on your body and can lead to tired and aching legs if you are standing for long periods and even backache. Have you considered a lino floor? These days it is not cheap, but there are some good patterns in it that look like tiles or you can just get something reasonably plain but it is so much kinder to your body. Cork tiles are also another option as they come in many colours now. Otherwise, maybe look for a laminated or vinyl flooring that matches your existing flooring and rethink the colour for the existing flooring to match the kitchen.

I was just looking over all the advice and the drawings that have been done for me showing how paint would look in various places. Thank you so much everyone for the time and help that you have given me - plus your honest opinions. I have decided that over the long term, all of the raw timber on the walls will go, but I may also remove a section of the wall joining kitchen to loungeroom. I am not sure whether it will be removed and sheeted or whether it will be sheeted over in some places, and painted in others. What I decide is going to determine what the architraves and window frames look like, because to sheet over the timber means that the current architraves will not be thick (deep) enough. A carpenter has already suggested just using painted MDF due to the difficulty in getting timber architraves at present and their cost. These are decisions that I am not ready to make yet. I have no idea whether it would be best to keep timber window frames and door frames or whether to just have white. Your opinion on this would be appreciated too. For now, the lounge room and entry wall will be painted. The undercoat will start to tell me whether all white or black and white is better. I have a painter coming tomorrow to start. I will be doing some painting too, but I know he will prepare it a lot better than me.