Thanks for the tips about drying linen! I've often gotten this wrong.

Hi all. Two questions re my living room in a very cool but neglected house in NZ. Property was architect designed, built in 1980 but with a very sixties vibe. So it’s an eclectic / Interesting mixture of mid century architecture (floor to ceiling glass, atrium, flat roof, trees) but with 80s appointments (bathroom colours and fittings, crazy paving, floors, garden hardscaping, etc) After being built (to a high standard) it looks like it was neglected by subsequent owners. We bought it three eyars ago and have replaced the roof, skylights, plumbing and wiring. All stuff that had to be done. We redid the front garden because it needed it but it was also the first project we did for lifestyle reasosn as well – because we wanted to not just because we had to. Nice feeling. Two Questions : First - we’ve been here a couple years, and not really solved the living room furniture layout thing. The room is long and relatively narrow. It’s generously sized, but it always feels a little empty. It’s like it’s too large for a ‘single’ seating zone arrangement, but not quite big enough to create two distinct areas. The reality is I feel I have three different possible things I want to ‘look’ at – the fireplace, the garden via the beautiful end glass wall, and, frankly, the TV and Hi Fi. So we tend to settle on an L shaped arrangement, with the open part of the L facing the window and TV in summer, and reversing it so it embraces the fireplace and TV in winter. So what would I like? I’d like to create an area for talking and an area for tv watching / family time where the sofa s closer, but I’m stumped on how to do that without being too far away from the fireplace in winter (brrrr) or being too close to the very large window and its torrents of sunshine in summer (too hot to be comfortable and furniture fades fast in NZ high-UV sun). Ideas and thoughts welcome. Second question : flooring I was a bit iffy on the (original) marble tiling when we moved in but I've grown to love it. I hate the carpet though which definitely isn’t original. I’d like to replace it but can’t decide with what. I’d prefer something that links the three zones – kitchen and entrance area with its marble tiles, living area (currently carpet) and outside patio (grey concrete tiles). More tiles are out – pretty sure three different kinds of tiles across the three zones would look odd - so I’m tossing up w simply replacing the carpet (what kind? What colour? Grey to match tiles or amber-y to bring down colour from the brick wall?) or installing wooden floors. I was leaning towards wood except when we went to the wooden flooring shop both design consultants suggested simply replacing the carpet would look better (they’re wooden floor salespeople??????) which makes me wonder if they are seeing something I'm not. All advice appreciated. It’s a beautiful house, and any improvements I make are about lifestyle not resale value. I’ll be carried out of this place in a box.

We’ve renovated and are just waiting on the guy to come and fit our laundry cabinets..... he said he was coming one day.... then didn’t show up, gave another day and time ...didn’t show up...and then said last Thursday 8am... well it’s now 1.45am Mon morning and he hasn’t had the decency or courtesy to even ring or return our calls .... so we are now in the same position as you... I see hes here on houzz so, maybe a review will warn others ... anyway good luck with your laundry!!

I love cars . I was watching a program the other day about a guy who has a $20 million car , the huge house , etc . He drove into his coblestoned driveway , drove towards his 4 or 6 garages , pushed a button , and part of his driveway started to lift up . Within maybe 20 seconds this became the roof , and he drove his car onto the 'lower platform' ( sort of looks like a carport ) . He hopped out of his $20 million car , pushed the remote again , and it dropped down out of sight. I thought that was so , so cool ! A very wealthy mate of mine built a very expensive house maybe 15 years ago , and he's a car nut too . Basically , he has a 10-15 car garage as the basement ( mostly underground ) but at the entrance he had an automatic carwash built in , so whenever he wants he can wash whatever he is driving at the push of a button . I thought that was cool , but a hidden underground garage seems even cooler to me . Has anyone actually seen one , seen one in operation ?