I'm amazed that this discussion has carried forward for nearly two years! In that time I have moved to another coastal area (cooler climate and better proximity to children) and this time found most of the discussion still rings true. Finding another home here was an incredibly frustrating journey made all the worse by a mad investor rush in the area just when we arrived to start our home search. That search took the best part of six months and in the end there would only be three or four houses to choose from in any week. Result? A rushed purchase, a desperately inadequate building inspection and failure on my part to notice poor bathroom tiling, shortage of closet and storage pace, just how small the lounge room really was, and etc. I disappointed myself because I had let the pressures beat me and now we are trying to resolve all of these issues in a home designed and built by one of this states most respected project home builders 25 years ago. Having now studied the floor plan with more care I realise it was put together (designed) in modular fashion - most bedrooms have similar dimensions and the living areas are all approximately the same size as if the designer simply juggled three boxes of one size and four of another size and then worked out traffic flow. Then he must have thrown them all in the air to see how they would land and that was design number two! And etc and so on. This house aside, we looked at a great many during the six months because we had to broaden our search above and below budget trying to find something. There were massive termite problems, leaky roofs, asbestos galore, gazzumping at every turn, almost all but the most expensive properties suffered at least one substantial fail for the most basic of needs and to top it off the best home in our price range just happened to be built on flood prone land - approved by council who put the flood signs up less than five years earlier. We live and learn. Then there were the real estate agents, but that would take another two years and I doubt the internet has enough free page space available!!! OK, I hear you, they're not ALL bad...

apparently you have never tried public transport in my hometown. tampa, fl. it is hideous. max I have traveled is about 1.25 hours. worst trip and greatest was the 24 miles from crapo, say crepe o, to cambridge md. I once counted 49 hairpin turns, during that trip. all that on land so flat, you were lucky if it was not underwater.

@ jeannie...that's Oipe, my dancing Queen...despite her size she's very nimble and does a little dance for her bowl of dinner. She's a Norwegian Forest cat. In the winter she grows another coat on top of her shorter curly woolly one...not FUR but a long straight coat of waterproof wool! Here sh'e in between seasons so no "Puss in Boots" UGG BOOTS and no gaucho pants! Can you imagine that!? After one litter she decided she wasn't doing that anymore...and I was sort of glad too....with all that wool around her nether regions! She gets shaved mid Spring, looks very funny but its more comfortable for her. Her favourite red mate 'Yodle' is smaller. Oipe is classed as 'red' ( ginger) even though her coat colour is much closer to a pale apricot. Have a friend who collects all Oipe's wool from her periodical groomings and her annual shear, spins it, crochets baby clothes and sells them...much in demand, better than Alpaca and as rare as....cat wool! I think Oipe weighs a bit more than 22lbs. Everyone is taken by her and she's such a " lol-about and couldn't give a darn" that she allows all the attention and loves it. My lifestyle is every bit as fantastic as it is just plain hard Aussie 'yakka'. I planned that this house would be where I lived and died. All sounds so romantic and close to Nature...and it is...but one can get really muscle sore, and brain weary working oneself into this lifestyle. Thankfully I am quite a strong Aussie country woman now..but getting here from being a thin city lizzy with not much strength, let alone country naus, was an ordeal I thought I would not survive. I've needed every bit of brain and braun I could accrue... and all on my own. I've met some wonderful country folk who have taught me bush skills I never knew existed. Did you know, for example, that we should never kill ants? Black ants are the natural enemies of the white ants or termites. You need to know where your black ants live and keep them fed so they'll stay outside and hunt the termites. If you find termites just surround them with a handfull of sugar and bring a clump of dirt and black ants to where they are...you won't need to spray...ever! Once they know they'll alert all their relatives near and far and anything wooden in your dream home will be safe. Glad you all like my story..THANKS...it makes all the hardship all that much more worth it! Oipe reaps the full benefit of my, at times, sore, tired body. When I'm flaked out on the lounge from hauling in the heavy ironbark firewood for the night...she just ambles up and plonks her voluminous self right in my lap and up my chest and decides I need grooming and exfoliating with her raspy tongue. Then I get a massage! She purrs and vibrates like an idling diesel engine...its kinda relaxing! P.S. Never thought anyone would catch me wearing Jeans! The only place I wear a skirt is to church..and sometimes I'm too tired to be botheredironing it...so have a pair of Sunday jeans ...there's no such thing as a day of rest...but time for the gentler jobs...like cooking enough to last the week! All the girls get together for that...NICE. I think I'm one of the lucky people!

A great concept, I've often considered doing so myself. Whats great about your bodo boards, and the schemes put together on this poll, is that they are quite adaptive with a neutral foundation. They can be easilyapplied to everyone. I love an emphasis on tone and texture, and in place of colour, visual interest is really added by accents, architecture and artwork. The australian bush scheme is very textural, although I think the palette could explore some of the more chromatic tones in our bush, some organic notes of green and taupes, but perhaps with vibrant yellows or deep indigos for example introduced. as for the romantic industrial, lovely, but it is only so because of the rose pink. A feminine take on industrial would to me be softened with humanised accents. Please explain, industry is mechanical, and romance or femininity is softness, so perhaps signage featuring lettering, or bespoke handicrafts which show the connection between industry, and loved spaces created out of collecting. Almost a way of feathering our nest. waterfont is cool, calm and yes collected. Literally. I love coastal schemes, but they can become a little predictable when they are literal interpretations of sea and sand. Coastal can easily be adapted to a relaxed style and I feel many colours can be applied to demonstrate this costal palette. . The key is in muting the scheme and enhancing the textures from nature. Tha grand! Oh the grand. I love it. Who doesn't really. Its very now, but the drama and edge is lost in applying same old collaborations. The geometric tile, chevron, hexagonal or penny rounds are gorgeous, and befitting the current style, but more so appropriate in specific architectural styles, not everyone an have a warehouse or loft, or grand 1920s residence, although we all try to use these same materials and formats. Precious metals and stones are the height of popularity and luxury, brass, marble and glass, are all in favour, actually have never been out of it. What I want is to see the used in a contemporary fashion. It is my pick, because it actually does respond to my own homes architecture, so I'm always on a hunt and gather of images and ideas to develop this gorgeous and luxe style. Whats next? Usually in an effort to be new and different, we move away from what's in front of us, but ever so gradually. I think the appreciation for industry, form and function, man made objects, formats, collaborations will be in favour for some time, so to in an effort to be different, organic will evolve. Colour notes, timbers, sustainability and natural form will emerge. Not to say literall greens or Browns, but more so, soft geometry, tactile materials and surfaces, perhaps a focus on light and shade over shimmer and style. bespoke practices, so things if stone and wood, and one off designs, as in using products that can't be replicated in process, like bricks, every ones different, veneers, grained materials, and unpretentious designs. Hand scribed lines, patterns or prints, I think will favour. Thestyle of now is definitely one we aspire to, as in luxe and indulgent, the monochromatic scheme which is actually ACHROMATIC people is overdone, but will never be out of favour. It is classic. When done right, it is the epitome of style, only the definition of that is what changes! love what you do....I can't articulate the value of conceptualising your style in finishes and fittings, design is often felt not learnt, and we respond to our environments, so it makes sense that seeing your style emerge from a collective consciousness in the form of a board, will literally transform your ideas in reality. As a designer myself, I'm constantly creating them. My own home is a work in progress, which I've created many concepts for. I'm very interested in seeing your perspective on it though, and I'd be very grateful for a bodo board from your design perspective. ml