The next time I decorate by a colour of the year will be the first time. Don't hold your breath. I have nothing against this particular colour but it doesn't work with all the things I've collected over the years, and I am not about to discard carpets bought after hard bargaining with dubious merchants in Istanbul or Islamabad because they don't "go" with a paint colour that someone voted "colour of the year." In its place, I think the colour would be quite nice (better than this years choices, certainly). It's just that my place isn't the right place for it.

Under sink bin added when we moved to our home 18 years ago as there was not a lot of floor room. Opening door was awkward. However now with an updated kitchen it was suggested to have pull out bin in island bench. Chop food on bench then scraps into bins. Too easy. It is practical, more room to move around work zones with re configuration. If you empty regularly it is not a problem with odour and part of the integrated design. Its clever cabinetry.

The biggest thing to remember is to have a plan before you set out and make any changes. A WIR is the way most people seem to go these days when redoing up an old space, or if you are building a new home, but a WIR is becoming much more glamorous these days, and they are quiet a destination. If you going to have a WIR, one of the biggest considerations is to decide if you are going to have doors, or if its all going to be open. Now if you are quiet a tidy person, then a full open WIR will be fine for you, but if you are someone that is not so tidy or good at putting things away, then I suggest that you finish of the WIR with some doors to hide any mess. Then the next major step is to make sure that if you are designing or getting it designed, that you have the right amount of areas for the right amount of each category of hanging to folding ratio, and also shoes and accessory storage too. There is obviously many more things to consider, but these are two major ones that people get wrong or don't consider. At the end of the day, each style of wardrobe has its pros and cons, but to date the WIR robe style dressing room is still the most popular, and I myself love this style because there is so much you can do to cater for individual needs. check out some of the WIR ideas we have on www.inthecloset.com.au

We have been building our house for over two years now. The supply chain downturn has made it a nightmare. We are camping on the mezzanine floor of our warehouse so it isn't costing us to wait, but if I had rented a property while building we would be in trouble now. I purchased most of our plumbing supplies early in the build so at least those items have not gone up in price, but many others have. We ordered and paid for a cantilever pool awning in February this year, and it was sent in three lots. The last delivery was two weeks ago. I suspect the company was having a hard time getting it out of China, so not their fault. We had quotes for fly screens/security screens that totalled over $25,000. We had to forgo the security screens in favour of fly screens for most of the house. We had a quote for a large aluminium mesh panel to place on the front left corner of the house which was over $25,000 also. The fencing company got an order wrong and we ended up with the wrong colour louvre panels on the front driveway sliding gates, plus the wrong colour for a fence. We have managed to turn it into a positive by keeping the wrong coloured louvre blades, and they will now be put up vertically on the front corner of the house, instead of the aluminium mesh. They are six metres long, but the house is two stories, so all good. We had to keep the gate panels the same, so the wrong colour will have to be exchanged for the right colour. People are still building houses here, and some of them are going up very fast, so I don't understand why ours has taken so long. We have purchased most of the goods locally, but I suppose the suppliers are having trouble getting them from overseas. I am at the point where I am losing interest in this house, which is a shame because it will be a beautiful house when finished.