Thanks for this suggestion. I've just had a look at a photo of a fence painted in this product and it looks great. ... It's been almost three years since we posted our original question on this site and we still haven't painted the fence! Some parts of the fence have turned grey, as they are exposed to more sun, but overall I do think a dark charcoal finish would be more attractive. :)

The Feast Watson product is a great finish it will tone down the white wash look still leaving the timber shining through. the only down side is, if is going over an old polyurethane finish you may have some trouble with adhesion, it would pay to try a small area as a test first, there is nothing worst than seeing paint peeling off due to adhesion problems and it's a major fix up after. Good Luck.

Hi Val, Your house has beautiful timber floors and Cornices to work with and the kitchen even though very good quality has limited storage from what we can see in the photo hence my suggestion to change the glass to allow for better storage. You could add extra shelves and use as pantry space. A long light similar to the one in the photo could look good, you can get them a bit shorter as well, check out the splash of colour in the stools, New York Bar style. Can we see a photo of what's opposite the kitchen. Have you had any quotes to have the kitchen painted and what do you think you could sell it for. I say this because even though it is a high quality kitchen from the 80's they don't necessarily function very well. cheers

It's (as always) about balancing the elements.......you can have a timber overload, but you can always counter/balance/freshen up with other contrasting aspects......It's easy to paint out character, harder to put it back if you make a mistake/wrong decision. Below is one of our contemporary projects that features both cedar window frames and cedar ceilings. The owners also had what i'd describe as more traditional styled "homely" furniture rather than super edgy contemporary pieces. It's not right or wrong with this stuff. Rather than try to find the answers from looking at examples from other side of the world online with google or pinterest, perhaps re-focus on what you have in front of you, asking what are the unique/special aspects about your home that are of value, and then build the decisions of what to do and what not to do around the prioritising of the elements. It's easy to standardise finishes with paint or herringbone pattern or whatever is the latest fad, harder though to achieve sympathetic timeless results marrying together elements of yesteryear, last century and contemporary living. It can be a fine line between getting it right, going too far, or not doing enough or completely stuffing it up, which is why potentially you may be best to seek some professional guidance and advice from a designer with an experienced eye (such as the service offered above by Dr Retro)..... PD :) www.pauldistefanodesign.com