@fianou, Thank you for your kind words, I agree it's coming along, although not everyone knows that we've been building this home for 8 years now, using only our own money as humble farmers!!! We live in a tiny but comfortable7 square, (roughly) relocatable home and I personally can't wait to get into my new home with all the room and room to put everything in it's place!!! Right now all my posessions are boxed or wraped and in storage in various locations here on the property like our woolshed and an old caravan, as well as things stored in my mother's home a few kms away and with the home having just been sold, means I will have to move this furniture here and add to the mountain of things already in storage!! I'm sorry to say and hope I don't offend, that I don't have an affinity with hanging pots and plants and hubby would literally "cringe" at the thought of growing a vine up our new posts ha-ha I have got a pair of large pots either side of the front door , visible in the photo, housing Wisteria's that I hope to be able to keep tamed and they shoud look lovely when in flower. I originally planned to have about 20 standard roses along the front of the home but they are too much work I've decided and more often than not look quite shabby at certain times, especially when they are dormant, so instead, I have decided to plant several standard grevilleas in a nice stone mulch with a brick border as is the rest of my garden for easy mowing. I actually have quite a large garden but mulch is definitely the way to go and I have used a few different types of stone mulch, as well as tree mulch and woodchips and this reduces my weeding workload, the bain of all gardeners. I'm almost 60 and want to enjoy my home and garden but do not want it to become a burden but should I ever consider a hanging basket, perhaps indoors, I will be reminded of you!!! ha-ha Cheers, Barbara

Hi HU-648755060 A couple of questions for you. Do you have any floorplans or other details as well? A lot of people say Hampton's Style but that in itself can vary greatly between people. What you have picked out so far all sounds pretty good. I would look at a darker stain, like an espresso for the flooring. The darker automatically adds a feeling of understated luxe. I assume you are doing larger architraves, crown mouldings and skirts and these are painted white? Are you doing a grey grout on the splashback? For a more modern/industrial twist, look for a concrete finish to your kitchen benches. Remember that the concrete looks can be rather patterned so look at full slab pictures before choosing. If you go down this path I would keep all of them the same, vanities, laundry benchtops and kitchen benchtops. Otherwise you could look at a dramatic marble look such as Smartsone Blanco Molassa for the island and then a pared back white, for the other benchtops throughout the house. I hope this helps.

What a beautiful tile! Rule of the tump - always match the grout to the tile. Specially with such a strong patterned tile, otherwise the grout also becomes a clashing pattern. I'd pick light grey to avoid pure white cleaning issues. I have these type of tiles in my patio, you will have to be seal them with penetrating sealer after installation, but other then that you will love them forever

In my early twenties I designed kitchens for my mother and two aunts (Uncle built them and they worked), but when it came to designing my own - had to fit a constrained space and no possibility of extension - I chewed my lips for ages - like Nicole, I drew and measured ad infinitum, and used graph book walls, views etc. I did one extra thing - which I think worked - I listed all that I wanted to store, and tried to analyse how I liked working in the kitchen. Some things I had to settle for because of space (such as a smaller dishwasher) but most of it has worked. We have a corner pantry, which I (and the cat, husband a bit larger) can walk into, but have not put small appliances in there - they sit in a large drawer beneath the main working bench, which also works well. It all looks good to me Nicole and thinking carefully about needs and how things work in advance usually results in something you'll be happy with. Good luck!