So funny! I'm planning to paint the bannister at the new house (TNH) black and am veering towards painting the treads and risers black too... I've been searching for images of black staircases on Houzz and putting them in my entrance hall ideabook. They are few and far between. In your case, I think, with your white walls, maybe the stairs white and the bannister black? (Assuming the white walls continue up the stair walls enabling the b/w contrast.) You've already put black firmly into the equation, adding some more may give more reason for the black rad cab. In my case, there is a very off-centre radiator that could so very easily have been directly opposite the front door in TNH which is rather annoying as it stuffs up the focal point. We are leaving here with every radiator covered with a cabinet - and going to TNH that has loads of radiators ...but no cabinets! Yes, the work ahead is daunting - especially since the area of Ireland we're going to is very basic and not full of DIY resources, etc. I keep thinking I'll paint TNH white - to make things simpler(!) But try as I may colour keeps wandering through my mind! Lovely to be in touch again!

Loose the rad,put in underfloor heating and look for one of the angled compact corner WC's. I think they are about 790 x 400 - think about it in the back left corner with a small wash basin on the left wall , again you can get some as small as 250 x500. (The obvious place for the shower is the back area but it will be awkward moving past loo and sink ). The space as you come in would be your shower area- , drainage could go to middle of the room ,you might need to build up under WC pan slightly and remember not to put underfloor heating under area where pan is bolted down. You could back the door with a sheet of acrylic and make sure you have a plastic seal on the bottom or a linear drain by the door. Depends on how often you think you will use it ?

hi all, as promised (or threatened ?!) here are the photos of my new fireplace. I am still not convinced that the wallpaper on the chimney breast is right and we are thinking of just repainting the whole area white/offwhite. (The carpet and curtains are new). the red in the previous photo above is what was on the wall pre-installation and i was hoping to replicate that, but could not find a plain red paper anywhere! so have gone with red curtains instead. any advice regarding replacing the stripy paper welcome !! thankyou

Tracey, those are encaustics which tend to be 18-20mm in depth, your wood will most likely be engineered ply if you have underfloor heating and depths vary 12mm upward. If one or the other substrate needs to be built up to accommodate the other that is possible. Be aware there will be some movement between the two, more so if you are using long boards, less with parquet, so consider how best to deal with any movement or expansion between the two. There are plenty of products available for this. Make sure your encaustics are sealed correctly. You could also find the cleaning regimen of the two finishes may be very different. Lithoflin for encaustics - and oil/wax for an oiled floor, that's not a great combination, so perhaps an easy maintenance wood might be better in the long run.