I never, ever change mine. I use a butcher block and a huge thick wooden cutting board, only taking care to keep my fruits from suddenly tasting like onions or garlic. Studies have shown that a wooden cutting board is naturally resistant to bacteria, so I scrape and then wash mine off with soap and water after use. All this absurd paranoia about cleanliness is the product of marketing, not science, and the supposedly more sterile plastic ones are actually much better petri dishes for bacterial growth, which is why they must be cleaned and disposed of regularly. Fine if you want to keep plastic cutting board manufacturers in China working, but not at all safer or cleaner.

Angelboyman nails it for me. We have been in this house 32 years and have done everything at least once from renewing the roof and windows to digging out the floor, putting in a damp course and installing central heating. The ensuing recoration has been a "classic" traditional colour-scheme of soft barley and sage green to suit the era the house was built. It suits us down to the ground and we are not distracted by outdated decor. We give it a lick of paint when it needs it. The house is the only one in this Victorian terrace to have retained many original features such as picture rails, dado, marble fireplace and ceiling rose, but internal doors were sadly a victim of the dreaded Fire Certificate and other "improvements", which also mean all the features inc. windows and front door were not retained as we would have wished and we have also had to cover the pine floors we so lovingly restored with carpets and vinyl because they needed protecting from high-heels and countless sandy feet. We also dopted the German fashion for wood-chipping and painting what were pretty uneven walls. They have been over-painted so often, the texture is barely visible and it has withstood the test of time. We are in a seaside location, so there has been heavy wear and tear from a couple of generations of holiday making friends and relatives as well as our own family. The kitchen is the biggest challenge being north-facing with practically no light and whilst it was being excavated we made the bathroom into a temporary kitchen, but never restored it, so now we have two showers and three toilets in the house, but no bath! The room is a designated "laundry room" which is also a tool store, boiler and hobby room. The house will soon be on the market, so redecoration will not be our choice. The new caretakers of this happy home will have a blank canvas. Good luck to them! I just hope they retain the features and the character.

Unfortunately, MRSA is all over, not just lurking in hospitals anymore. My nephew contracted it when he was about 18 months old. The doctors had strict guidelines to follow for prevention of further outbreaks for both him, and the entire family. My sister was told that everyone, not just families that are dealing with MRSA, should wash towels after every use with bleach as a means to kill any of the germs. bTW, my sister has always kept a spotless home, so it wasn't like this is a home with full of excessive germs.

Every day I give the bathroom a clean, I love shiny chrome and squeaky clean porcelain, if you keep on top of it it really only takes 10 mins max, including the floor tiles. Use disposable kitchen roll for your loo, and 2 glass cleaning cloths, one wet and one dry, for your porcelain and shower screen. Floor wipes are great, but steam cleaner is effortless. Happy cleaning