We spend Christmas Eve watching Carols by Candlelight and preparing for Christmas Day. We bake sweets, ice gingerbread and wrap all our last minute gifts. Christmas Day is then spent sharing a breakfast of traditional Italian cake in the early hours of the morning and opening gifts. We then head to Church and assist with a lunch and gift giving for those not as fortunate as us and then head home for a big Italian/South African feast and backyard cricket!

Unless you are looking at flipping your house in the short term the question of what is in fashion today isn't really that important. What is important is the durability and lifespan of the finish, and how long until you can afford to renovate or resurface your kitchen doors. If you are planning on a renovation that has to last a long time then I would go for a product that has proven to be a durable long-stayer, that is not affected by heat and moisture. The cabinetwork doors are a key visual element of your kitchen so spend the money on making sure that they look good and last the distance. If vinyl wrap doors were less than half the price of a 2-pack finish it may be a different story, but as they are not I would go for the two-pack everytime, and get what you like, and not what fashion dictates. Today's on-trend fashionable kitchen is tomorrow's dated kitchen. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Good to hear this has triggered review........re the basement costs, it depends upon how it's done. Either way you are doing 2 other separate garages that would be rolled into one. it involves negotiating levels, grading driveway at the higher end to get down so there could be some increased complexity.....but it's hard to make an accurate comment on numbers...... Catherine when you are doing something of this scale it's critical you are working with people/designers who are ALL OVER the costs in relation to design decisions and options. If they can't provide you with this advice and it's just design/plans/drawings that then get handed back to you to discuss potential costs with a builder, then I'd argue they're not up to the task. Before we do anything we robustly thrash out just numbers and project scope relationships (ie no detailed drawing!) and it deals effectively with the major issues and project alignments at the right time, and mitigates the nasty surprises or wasting resource pursuing options that are not viable. Either way, as I previously commented, as it's drawn currently it's a relatively expensive design that is arguably not delivering you the value/potential that you'd expect for an expensive design if you get what I'm saying. You will be paying a certain amount for a split, staggered or two level building (which is essentially two residences in one) and when you're getting into this type of construction ( basement or garages + driveway with a building of certain complexity & size) it will pretty much cost a similar ballpark whichever way you configure it.........BUT the outcome with be DRAMATICALLY different one way or the other, comparing designs of different levels of quality. Good design is not necessarily more expensive, rather it is better considered and gives you more for your money.

Hi everyone, can anyone recommend a good flat pack kitchen provider in the outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne that they've had a good experience with? Thanks!