Best tip there is to CLEAN the kitchen. I'm far from being the best housekeeper but I'm amazed how proud people are of their new stove/hob/island chairs/microwave, yet the kitchen and items are grubby. Clean up + tidy away all those bits that have ended up in kitchen for no good reason, add in some new utensil holders/fruit bowls, hang up some larger hand utensils or remove them, put away all jam + marmalade jars or clean rhe outside + gather together in a small tray, replace chopping board or get one. Change tea-towels, or just use the clean untattered ones, ditto any table linen, place mats, coasters. Yep clean up + tidy up + tidy away first - then you'll see what'll work quickly + cheaply. Anyway, units have to be cleaner before painting

As with all schools of art and design, we can find good and bad examples. Good design is generally related to usability and relationship of the building to it's locality and climate, if the aesthetic of the building lifts the spirit, ages with grace and is able to reflect the character of its inhabitants - then I suggest you can start to talk about good design. 'Whats next'? I think with increasingly challenging sites, and the evidence that current modern society is not proving advantageous for mental health (there is a mental health epidemic in the UK, depression higher than ever and the leading cause of death for young men being suicide) I am working for a future where design focuses on what it can do to help people access the causes of wellbeing, lift the spirit and encourage positive relationship and community building. Architecture has been ego/profit-centric for too long, we need to invest in environments that help us live well, are able to reflect who we are and contribute to building healthy relationships, families and communities.

Hi, Your room looks massively better stripped back to the original. I've got a black marble hearth that the people who bought my old house didn't want. If you're near Canterbury you're welcome to it. I'm going to South Manchester soon so cold possibly drop it off if you're en route. I'll see if I can get a photo later.

Hi, We have a UPVC window in our shower area with tile going right up to the plastic frame. I think having a window in the shower is nice but suggest the bathroom fitter/tiler would remove the wooden frame then tile right up to the UPVC. On the small ledge/shelf that will be created its worth remembering it should be at a slightly tilted forward angle to allow water to drain. It also looks neat to use stone such as marble to frame up and box a window as you then don't get mouldy grout lines as you would with tiles. I wouldn't recommend trying to keep a wooden surround, even painted it'll inevitably expand/contract with the humidity so can cause problems down the line with the surrounding tiles. ^ an example of using stone to 'box' in an aperture.