Cloudyhaze....I think all of the options look good, but it just depends on the look you personally wish to have for your house, because painting the ceiling white will COMPLETELY change the look. My sister has just bought a place that had brick walls and exposed ceilings that had the beams painted mission brown and the ceiling was in some form of raw chipboard type material. She wanted to brighten the place up before she moved in and got it all painted white. It looks beautiful, but I personally would have thought of other options before painting the brick etc. She got a quote for plastering (sheeting) the sections in between the exposed ceiling beams and it was a lot more expensive than painting. If you are keen to paint just the panelling in the ceiling, then I would get additional quotes. I am no painter but I would suspect if it has shellac on it, it will just need an initial sealer on it, before putting on the 2 coats of flat ceiling paint. I think all of the options will look beautiful, because the high ceilings are the feature.........it just depends on whether you are going for a more rustic look, mid-century look , more modern look...I am not sure of what all the designs are called. Good Luck. Your house is gorgeous. My sister lives on Gold Coast BTW.

Unless you live like animals, carpet does not 'harbour' a single living organism. It's a scientific fact. It's your bed that harbours organisms. Carpet acts like an air filter for dust, waiting for you to vacuum it out. Timber flooring allows dust to be constantly stirred up into the air in the home unless you vacuum and mop daily. At the end of the day, go with what you like- carpet in bedrooms and not in high traffic areas is logical. I've manufactured carpet for years and wholesale carpet and hard flooring. There is a lot of misinformation out there about all flooring types. Happy to answer any queries.

No that is not correct. It will be Synteco oil that he will be talking about I assume. I have only used it once because we could not get enough of the livos oil in wa for one job. That was in a yoga school about 10 years ago. Still going strong. I am selling my house in about a year and after 6 years of renovations, three dogs and kids that are now 12 and 13, I will only consider polishing our floor with a white pad. Show me a poly floor that can hold up to that. Actually our floor looks better now than it did when it was first done. Sanders don't like using oil for two reasons, it does them out of a job or they aren't confident enough to use it. Bottom line is there is no better solution unless you like plastic looking,feeling floors and some people do. Each to their own.

Always seek professional assistance. Be it a colour consultant, designer or a house painter. Always good to bounce your ideas around here as a lot of good advise is given, certainly if you're not sure of where to start. Have a chat to a local house painter, they're the best ones to give solid advice. Paint brands are usually pretty good, certainly the well known ones like Taubmans, Wattyl, Solver, Dulux. Trusted brands been around for decades. Colour consultants are good as they live and breath colour schemes. They can come up with colours to use that the rest of us wouldn't even think of. Terracotta roof is timeless and classic so you're certainly not limited.