I adore red, it's my favourite colour by far and is all over my wardrobe. I even have red glasses, it's kind of a signature thing of mine. When my partner and I recently bought our first flat we had to redecorate it all very quickly and went with quite neutral shades throughout: oak wood, white, black and grey. We then added touches of red in kitchen accessories, curtains, cushions and finally red carpet in the corridor, staircase and landing to tie it altogether. The only rooms which have no red are our 2 bathrooms as I like them better crisp and neutral.

There you are Moiraford....I said it was a colour that would work if correctly used. I think with some lemon yellow highlights perhaps, it is rather attractive...maybe a challenge on kitchen cabinets in case you change your mind but still interesting!

I know this is an old post, but I thought I’d add that saying that Southern Europeans have their elderly live with them has not been my experience. My Italian cousin has her elderly mum live with her and it is driving her round the bend. Her mum has always been a difficult and demanding woman and even more so now. She is not doing it out of love, but duty. Another cousin has arranged for 24 hr care in her mother’s home as she has dementia and is bed bound. She confessed that it’s costing an absolute fortune but she has a restaurant to run and does not feel she can care for her mum full time. My mother was a very demanding and controlling woman and I was her carer as a child whenever she was unwell. When she started to develop dementia in her 80s I did consider having her live with me, but she had poor mobility and could not manage the stairs to access the only loo in my pretty tiny house. Also I don’t think I could have coped emotionally. Plus she didn’t want to! After several falls and leaving the grill on all night, my siblings and I decided a Care home would be best for her. We are talking about a person with dementia, very poor mobility and double incontinence. We found her a lovely care home a few minutes away and within weeks she had settled in well and even made a best friend. Seeing them holding hands was so sweet! The staff were lovely and I felt very welcome there. My sister loved it there so much she started to work there. Mum flourished in the home as she had company, good food and good care and our relationship improved until she passed away 2 years later.

Belated thanks, Nisha. So I have compiled some albums of photos so you don't have to trawl through all the threads. Hopefully this works: someone let me know by posting, please? Completed house: https://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157700454483311 The whole, messy, process: https://www.flickr.com/photos/reshington/albums/72157684375457971