Hello Marcelle, I am an interior designer . I can tell you a simple inexpensive way to change the look of your kitchen. Looking at the photo you sent the different cabinet heights , and all the objects on the stove wall are very busy . Your modern house is wanting a cleaner , simple look. I would lower the small cabinets so that the top is at the same height as the others in the room. And put doors on , that will hide the clutter. Next I would do a tile backsplash above the stove , up to the same height. The whole kitchen will be pulled together by the continuous top line. There is a small light wood cabinet with baskets in the foreground . I would paint it white , or the same dark accent color of the cabinets you have. I don't think you would need to change the beams then , they would add interest and drama once everything else was subdued. Lisa

These houses were designed to look good from the street, regardless of what the orientation was for the Sun. Everything depends on your budget and how far your prepared to go. A friend's house in Queenstown faced the street, the toilet and bathroom had the best view of the lake and the Sun. They got a house removal Coy in, jacked it up put it on the truck drove out and turned it around and reconnected all the services. It then faced the North and West great views and warmth, doubled its value in 3 days!. I replaced my storage water cylinder with a outside gas one, picked up enormous space in our laundry. Another tip is to draw up your "dream" plan, then overlay it over the existing and see what you can really do, your then not influenced by what is already there, and often get a much better insight and removed from the existing. Good luck, its very rewarding and make it fun!

House in process of build. Dilemma about what to use instead of tiling walls. Came across a thread which suggested running the floor tiles up the vanity wall to create a feature. However I am not having a tiled floor but laminate planks with the label claiming100% waterproof flooring. Has anyone done this with flooring? I definitely do not want tiled walls. A number of queries..... 1. would the flooring still be affixed on the wall as the floor? 2. Would I take it to the ceiling...... so below and above wall hung vanity and above mirror? 3. Since I would not use this to feature the bath in the same room. What do you suggest I put here? The bath is a 1700 long btw/corner. I have never seen baths without some form of splash back? But I don’t want tiles.

My wife and I will soon begin a renovation of the kitchen, dining, and living rooms in our 1920s bungalow. We would like hard flooring through the kitchen and dining area and are considering various options including laminate, vinyl planks, and hybrid laminates. One hybrid product which we came across is Wicanders Hydrocork. It's promoted as being very quiet and waterproof. Our room will have direct sunlight and large dogs. Has anybody had Hydrocork installed? Did it meet expectations for noise, durability, and appearance?