We have been a supplier of OSMO Hardwax Oils for a while now and have found that they have been great in all applications. They have an Oil specifically designed for Kitchen benchtops. OSMO Top Oil which is foodsafe and contains linseed, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, sunflower oil, soybean oil & thistle oil. You can buy it from VCS Products in Perth or Natural Timber Oils in Melbourne.

A big island would be good, if you can afford that space in front of the fridge and dishwasher. Microwave can go up higher in the cupboard space to give you a bit more bench top area, or can go under the bench of the new island.

Hi RePete, another app for drafting is Home Sweet Home which is free. My experience has been that some of the really good architects are happy to share their ideas when they visit as they enjoy the creative process so much. Eg Williams Burton met with us years ago (we are still figuring out what to do!) - and I was very impressed. We didn't use them as they are very fastidious so their builds take a long time and we can't cope with that but they do some amazing work on character homes in particular and although people think of them as only doing very expensive jobs, I am aware that they have also done some cheaper jobs where the project has got their interest. You could try talking to them and a few others from that "tier". I can't remember if we paid for the initial meeting, but if we did it was only a very small amount. I would seek as many views as possible (including here), keep trawling the net and pinterest as well as Houzz, look at lots of magazines etc, go to every open home that is vaguely like your style and ask the real estate agent who designed/built it... (hmmmm this is why we haven't started building yet after 8 years...) As Ok says, probably the only person that can determine what accommodation is required is you, so make that thought process a parallel one to looking at pictures. Good luck.

You definitely need oriental rug under the bed,make sure it’s at least 0.60 cm bigger then your bed all around, but bigger is better. Original rugs are quite expensive but machine made ones are affordable, good ones are Belgian made and Turkish. Don’t buy online go to the shop and check quality. On the windows you could raise the curtain rod as far as possible get new shear curtain and velvet or other heavy fabric drapes in the same or deeper red that you have on the bed. Replace lamps with sconces from the same period mainly because bedside tables are small, or get different style in Persian blue ceramics .