Have seen many vanities butted up against walls on all 3 sides and 2 sides as well as the usual wall below a mirror. No idea of operation of drawer/etc. until one was seen in the flesh. Depends on hinges, etc., what its being installed near, etc. Basin top taps are probably easiest to install. They also generally use a stop cock to turn water on or off (for maintenance & the like) underneath the vanity with the basin top taps. More aesthetics than anything else really.

I really dislike the way paling fences look just a few years after being built. Solution: paint them with fence stain. I can't understand why more people don't do it. They look amazing and also weather better, so you don't need to replace your fence too often. robandlyn it's time you house-break your sons and make them clean their own bathroom... If they're old enough to shave, they're old enough to clean up IMHO.

The last home we had was a very small workers cottage so I kept the walls a light off white, table and to unit tops were gloss white to bounce the light around. My dining chairs and bar stools were clear acrylic so that I could see through them, the ends of my island bench/brekky bar were mirrored and my curtains were textured white sheers so that they also didn't take up too much visual room. All of my furniture was on legs so that I could see under it and the lounge room rug was pulled away from the lounge just a teeny bit so that I could see a little bit of timber flooring all the way round it, that all made the floor size look just a bit bigger. Bedrooms had mirrored wardrobe doors and bathroom was almost completely white (except for dark floor) and had frameless shower screen and oversized vanity mirror to reflect as much light as possible. Friends and visitors would comment that the house was bigger than they had imagined from the outside.......it wasn't, it was just styled inside to make it look larger.

Hi AndrewJason, I love cavity sliders. they are there when you want them but not visible when you need the space open. Having said that they cost more, take a bit of wreckage to set up and in you WA case you will be wrecking brick walls to put them in which might be a stretch of mess too far. BUT you will need to weigh up if they are worth it in the end. I do not think the build will be too bulky in the kitchen/dining because it will be superbly practical on both sides and it maybe just a matter of what you are used to. Not sure about "Average Joe...…" we are all good at somethings, mine is plans, function, practicality, solar. Yours might be brain surgery, empathy for unwell folks, kinda or you make the best seafood lasagne in the world... we are all needed to make for a great world: and it really is that!!! Good luck with your splendid home: I think it is beautiful. And PS if you do make the best seafood anything I better have your address....!!!!!!! MK