@ sally wastie....Would have loved those pine kitchen cupboards....before they were painted. Had I a strong yen for :a bit of colour"...(and I do love colour), I would have had a new glossy multi coloured counter top, probably something very striking and then oiled the pine cupboard doors There were no work benches in the kitchen of my 1920s all pine cottage ( always say that the kitchen was an afterthought since it is positioned just of a hallway and consisted only of a sink and a wood burning stove.) I built a small bench/table using VJ pine slats I'd removed from elsewhere and then put a thick pine top that curved out from the small straight bench to form a little round kitchen table..Then came the fun, I painted the benchtop and table a datk teale colour, gave it a flecked faux marble finish and a couple of coats of high gloss waterproof varnish. Nothing terribly amazing but it did give the old...'kitchen space' a bit of a lift. Had a larger round kitchen table with a formica top and timber legs...so gave the table-top the same teale treatment as the bench and it now lives on the veranda that came a few years later. Yes! Teale of any shade always looks good with timber. The only pity was that the kitchen walls and ceiling here were terribly smoke stained and had been painted a really horrible pre WWII green. Begrudgingly, I repainted the walls but used a bright orange/yellow to complement the dark teale colour ( this particular yellow is a good colour to keep the flies out) and, in keeping with the era of the house, I installed a built in dark timber kitchen hutch found at the dump shop. The kitchen is the only room to have been painted and repainted....but still have the dark timber parquetry floors. If you get tired of all timber a few splashes of bright colour in well-thought-out places do not go astray. If you have vertical timber panelled walls and you are feeling hemmed in... a good trick is to stain a small section of panels a darker wood colour or with a coloured stain to shift the focus from all the timber. or you can bleach the timber panels lighter. This idea can create interest extending ceilngward from behind a furniture piece...say low display cabinet...or just in a section of wall. You enhance the all timber 'look' with an eye -catching timber panel of another timber hue...like having a mahogany panel set in a light timber wall... Just a few ideas for those feeling a bit claustrphobic in an all timber house....understandable, not all of us aspire to live in a log cabin...but if carefully accented, an all timber interior can be extremely impressive and will not date. This is a pre-digital shot of the glass panels I had installed in the wall around my bed head...its really faded PIC but you can get the idea. Looks better today since the glass has been decoratively frosted with patterns. The sunroom behind the bedroomThis is also a pre-digital PIC showing the little timber kitchen bench with the teale table top. The end and other side of the bench is stained timber. This little table seats 3 or 4. Pity you can't see the old parquetry floor here. Old formica table given a lift with a Teale coloured painted top...there's no room for it in the ' kitchen space'. Amazing what a little lick of the right colour can do in an all timber house.

When my own home was rebuilt in Christchurch I used wood vinyl flooring in Rimu colour. It works fantastically in any wet areas like bathrooms and kitchen and laundry (washing machine overflows! No problem). It looks so real and wears extremely well. The colours you can get are amazing and it clicks together. I currently also work in the flooring section of a home improvement store and having looked at how the different engineered floors are made and wood laminates and bamboos, I would say that if you dont have the money to spend at the highest level of engineered timber dont go for the cheapest. The wood grain is printed on and any moisture will kill that floor. Bamboo is a great option as it solid banboo. The engineered has a 3mm or so layer of the actual timber. It can be re-sanded lightly if it scratches. Personally I would go with the wood vinyl planking again. Looks fantastic.

Thanks Siriuskey for your fotos.... beautiful Parquetry floors, beautiful home and stunning water views! I notice your parquetry floor transitions to grey tiles as well.... which is also very similar to what i will have happening. Im now very much leaning towards parquetry you'll be pleased to know. I collected some samples today, and noticed the store had them in a double formation which i'd never seen layed like that before. Its just 1 block of parquetry layed right next to another to make it seem thicker. I think it looks quite contemporary....check out the pic below from the timber showroom:(top half shows 2 blocks layed together in herringbone pattern) I placed a few of these on my floor as example No1, then i placed some in single herringbone as example No2 below. Which do you think looks better? - examples No1 double block herringbone - example No2 single block herringbone Thanks in advance for everyones input and feedback :-)

Looks a warm inviting room but the pale blue walls are a cool colour. First thing I would do is paint the walls Dulux China White. This will make a big difference to the feel. Grab yourself a sample tub and paint a big price of cardboard, move it around the room and you will see that it will look great in your room.