And to you, and to Chook too, of course. Sydney just has the best fireworks, doesn't it? Though I'm glad that Mr Dog and I don't live there. It'll be rough enough here. Row, I think you've done a great job. Yes, the roller blind may no longer live in that room. Thanks for sharing the other pics -- see, you were dreaming of pattern on walls before I came along.

Hi HU-648755060 A couple of questions for you. Do you have any floorplans or other details as well? A lot of people say Hampton's Style but that in itself can vary greatly between people. What you have picked out so far all sounds pretty good. I would look at a darker stain, like an espresso for the flooring. The darker automatically adds a feeling of understated luxe. I assume you are doing larger architraves, crown mouldings and skirts and these are painted white? Are you doing a grey grout on the splashback? For a more modern/industrial twist, look for a concrete finish to your kitchen benches. Remember that the concrete looks can be rather patterned so look at full slab pictures before choosing. If you go down this path I would keep all of them the same, vanities, laundry benchtops and kitchen benchtops. Otherwise you could look at a dramatic marble look such as Smartsone Blanco Molassa for the island and then a pared back white, for the other benchtops throughout the house. I hope this helps.

Hi new to all this but thought I'd pass on some fan tips; Be very selective of the shape of the fan blades. They all look stylish but in my experience the flatter the blade the less air they move. We have now gone back to the original metal fans with the blades that bend at the edge, http://regencyfan.com/industrial, our fans are more stylish than the one shown (the blade shape is nice and clear in this example). Our weather in no where near as warm as yours I'd hate for you to make the same mistake we made, twice, before we learnt. Look at the fans motor size, some of the expensive and lots of the cheap ones have small motors that don't last long, unfortunately price does not dictate quality in this case so don't get caught out. My husband is a mechanic and this is one of his "things" when every we shop for electrical items (drills, fans, pumps etc.) always make sure the motor is quality and large enough to do the job and last. How may speeds. We have 8 fans in our home, one is in our extension and was purchased at a different time; It's low speed is realllllllly slow the next one is so fast it's like a cyclone and I'm not game to try the third one in case it dismounts from the ceiling. Be careful not to mount fans too close to down lights or you get a flickering effect caused by the blade passing over the light. Try not to mount the fan directly over the dining table as it will cause food to go cold. I'm with mydesignobsession when it comes to style/look I prefer visitors see my wonderful eclectic decoration then my ceiling fans! Good luck

You will find that the cheaper light fittings that include bulbs will probably use less energy efficient bulbs that will burn out faster and need replacement. There are also some brands of cheap LED bulbs (such as Kogan) on the market that don't perform (or last) as long as their more expensive cousins. If you have cathedral ceilings then I would suggest that you buy quality bulbs that have some guarantee as to the number of hours they will last as changing downlight bulbs in a cathedral ceiling can be challenging when they get up high. Cathredral ceilings are better with the tiltable downlights as they are very directional, and it would be good to have some control where the light actually falls. You don't want to make a feature of the downlights so they should match the ceiling colour. If you have a white ceiling then go with the white lights. If you are lucky enough to have a timber ceiling then go with the brushed nickel as the white downlights will contrast too much. I would strongly recommend against using downlights with a cathedral ceiling as you have no roof space, and the holes in your cathedral ceiling will make heat loss and heat gain much worse if you care about sustainability. Cathedral ceilings always look best with pendants and uplights to make a feature of the ceiling by bouncing light off the sloping ceiling, rather than shining harsh downlights down, which actually helps conceal the cathedral ceiling. I suggest you find a cathedral ceiling with downlights and look at the fitting while it is on to see how glarey they can look. Best of luck with your research, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls