If you are making a studio that you can actually paint in, then you'll need bare boards varnished or silk-gloss painted - otherwise your rug will get ruined! Also, think about a system for hanging your works - either permanently or whilst they dry. No point having a beautifully-painted wall getting pockmarked with pins or blutac, or never changing your wall display because you want to keep things 'perfect'. A system of 'washing lines' running parallell to and close to the walls works nicely. (Jute string and clothes pegs for an old-fashioned look; steel cable or malin wire and metal hooks for contemporary - yacht chandlers are the place to go for the latter. ) Have a look at Gwen John's paintings for colour inspiration. Even though her painted interiors were Parisian, her palette remained rather English. On damp - limewash is magic. It doesn't seal off damp but processes it. Years ago, I painted the north wall of my very unfinished kitchen in Normandy with limewash, but didn't do the patch where the sink was. When we took the sink out to put in the floor(...) we found that the unpainted patch was DRIPPING but the painted parts were dry.

Well, the chippies van was up the drive when I got home from work - a little unexpected. At first I thought that he was sleeping with the Mrs, but then I remembered that he needed to finish the skirting boards. He's done a cracking job - quite a few tricky internal/external corners, plus the corners not being exactly 90 degrees he was back and forth to his saw all the time. He really did a stirling job. It was 13 meters of skirting in total - which took him 4.5 hours in total (over 2 evenings) and it cost me £90. Considering I was origionally going to do it, it could well be the best £90 I've spent on this whole kitchen. I need to get a lick of paint inside the alcove that's pictured. Our little fishtank will be returning in there, but as it's out I may as well do it. When we get the bar stools, and dining room table & chairs I will update again. So: What would I change/add/remove ADD - Somewhere to hang the tea-towels. We have some on the inside of a cuboard, but they keep falling off. Maybe I need some slightly more expensive 'hangers'. The space where they could have gone we put a spice rack/draw thingie - that's probably better though. ADD - We forgot about the bin! Now we have our pedal-bin basically kicking around the kitchen. The Mrs has already filled the cupboards to maximum capacity so I'm having trouble getting an internal cupboard one past her. I think I may just fit one then deal with her later. The bin has gravitated to a semi-perminant place, but with the kids trying to be *cough* helpfull the wall is already beginning to get the odd splatter of 'stuff' where they just throw their food in the general direction of it. Last night I said 'Well, why don't we just put it in the utility room' - She shot that idea down instantly as she obviously isn't happy about the extra 4 steps that it would take to walk all-that-way into another room. Poor thing! Typical woman lol. ADD - At the start of the project I would have got the electricians to chase in another mains wire from the fusebox so that it comes out of the kitchen wall centrally to the back garden, then I would put a PIR Security Light in. I know that it's not a big job by any means, and I could, and probably will, do it myself over the coming weeks but if I could have had it without a wire on the outside of the house then that'd would have been perfect. Also, thinking about it, I would have actually got him to do it at the front of the house as well as he re-wired the whole downstairs with new fusebox etc.

I think the answer is, it depends... On what sort of cooking you do; how much pain you feel if you see a grease spot; what sort of things you want to put on the shelf and whether you will replace them often. Of course, you could just put glass doors, although the effect won't be the same. I applaud your choice of matt cabinet finish - super shiny finishes are such a pain to keep looking good.

Hi Houzz friends! Im desperately searching for a sink similar to the Kohler Brockway sink without the hefty price tag (!). If anyone has any tips please let me know! Or ill have to concede defeat and shell out for the Kohler! Thanks!