Thanks MrsB. I went back and looked at the colour swatches I painted on the wall again and we are going to go with the Hogsbristle 1/4 strength. I've seen it in different light now and I think it will look good. I have to admit, we did in part "borrow" the colour scheme from a display home we saw. I...

We got a quote for a Culligans water filtration system on the weekend. The retail price was $380 installed but as part of our package we were offered about $300 installed. We chose the Culligans because they have a tap which matches our sink tap. The usual plumbing/home selection stores have a few c...

Hi colour savvy people (Michelle guru of selections, I hope you get to read this!), I am having the "which white" colour crisis which seems to happen to all of us at some stage. I am trying to select the "white" to use for our skirtings, window frames and internal doors. The selections that we have ...

We have just had all of the slate and tiles on the ground floor of our house taken up. We had contractors in and it took them almost 2 weeks and they broke/burnt out several jackhammer thingos (clearly know what I'm talking about!). They ended up hiring a big unit just to get the slate up. There is ...

Hi Ozibob, what a pain for you. In relation to the deposit, your contract will tell you what happens to it if the Purchaser fails to complete. It may also tell you that you need to give notice requiring them to complete within a specified period after which you are able to terminate the contract if ...

We currently have a Miele slimline dishwasher (9-setting, fits into one cupboard space). We love it and are putting a fullsize Miele G2220SCI (14-setting, semi integrated) into our new house. We love the cutlery drawer - means you have more space in the bottom shelf.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Michell your office looks so cosy and inviting compared to the small goldfish bowl I work in!! Must help going to work each day when you have somewhere nice to go! Windowexpert - Thanks for the link. We were in Austria earlier this year and they do do doors and doo...

I agree with 3xb on the floor and cakes of soap too - they are horrible but I thought I'd expressed enough opinions! Also there are no soap dishes so can you imagine the mess that used slimy bars of soap on rough stone are going to leave - urggh! I'm all for soap dispensers.

The front doors on the house we've just bought are solid western red cedar french doors (rebated edge). The only hardward currently on them is an entrance knob handle and sliding bolts at the top and bottom on the inside. This seems totally inadequate to me and I want to replace it but I'm not sure ...

Nicer than the youth hostel bathrooms that I've seen too! But I'm not sure that I'd actually like using it. The benchtop looks like rough stone and I can imagine them getting pretty grotty and not being able to be cleaned properly - particularly if its only the guests cleaning for free board. A smoo...

I saw these breifly on the weekend at my local hardware and from memory they were about $355. Not 100% sure though as I didn't look too closely. I have french opening front doors and didn't think they'd be suitable.

Thanks Mek, I'll check them out.

Thanks for your response Casa. I love Mek's sink but unfortunately it is way out of our budget! Very true about the best topmount sinks looking better than the worst undermounts. We've only just started looking for undermounts. I've only looked at Oliveri, Clark and Blanco at the moment and although...

We are getting carpet put in our new house so I am very interested in this topic. I am also questioning whether Dyson really is the be all and end all (but I'm a sucker and will probably end up with one!). Ash - I know you say uprights are better but we have a double storey house and have carpet on ...

Definitely good lighting. We installed downlights over the benchtop in our current kitchen and now cannot live without them. Nothing worse than working in shadow. Enough bench space for two people to work at the same time. Good layout - all the usual crockery near the dishwasher, pots and pans near ...

Hi All We originally chose a topmount 1.5 sink with drainer but because of space the drainer has to go on the left over the dishwasher which we don't want. We are now tossing up between an undermount double sink or a topmount double sink and we'll get the drainer accessory which sits over one sink. ...

Hi We are at the point of selecting our kitchen cabinet handles and I am confused by the different metals that are available. I've seen Stainless Steel, Nickle and Zinc Alloy. There are probably others! Can anyone tell me what the best product to use is and their different pros and cons? Thanks in a...

I've just checked out your blog Matt and your house and your views look amazing! The colours are going to look great. Looking forward to following your progress.

Thanks Stonecutter. I'm leaning towards just getting someone in to do it and $600 per door sounds reasonable. I'm not sure where the power is so will have to check that.