Those are wise words Karen! am so glad it worked out for you. Love to see a photo, what colour or shade did you choose? Jools, The bitumen is a right pig, best way we found is to make it cold, so it becomes brittle, then you can scrape /chip it off. We used a window scraper, coarse wire wool and various sandpaper. We left the window open on a cold night, turned heating off in there, and you could try a cooler fan on it. Putting ice bags on it didn't work as well as we hoped. we used a round sander, but it can cause swirls, it's really awkward ! To be honest a few dips and scratches on an old floor are okay in the end, don't be too afraid of it, they are only pieces of wood stuck down on the floor, not bone china, as long as you try not to break them, or set fire to them, otherwise you can't possibly do more damage than I did, and they recovered!

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the comments and input, it was great to see so many of you get involved! The competition is now closed, and any winners should have received an email from us confirming their prize so get checking. Happy New Year and here's to the next one!

We have done many a project where the table butts up to the island to create a larger island, but still offer that flexibility when you want to entertain a larger gathering. Thank you for the kind words about our 'Chorleywood' project. This was a particularly large space over 10 metres in width. We had a good 3 metre gap between the island and the dining area. I know the exact extractor your talking about 'Downdraft' that comes up out of the island. These have been around for years now and in all honesty i'm finding more and more people opting for something different. When they are fully up, it creates a barrier between you and your guests and depending on the hob set up, the extractor struggles to pull the front rings steam/grease over the back ring. The downdraft works best with a panoramic hob. The Bora 'Pure' & 'X' on the other hand offers the extractor in the centre of the hob, so you have the same pull of air on all 4 rings. They also do a 'Professional' range for different configurations to suit your exact needs.

Hi, we purchased Lerhyttan light grey last year for the kitchen and absolutely love it! Just in case you want a paint colour that goes well with it too, I splashed out for Farrow & Ball 'Wevet'. It's very close to white but isn't. We have a white ceiling and you can easily see a difference in colour. It keeps the kitchen looking light. We have a wooden floor and a wooden worktop, plus put in a welsh slate windowsill and then some dark blue roller blinds. It all looks fantastic. One thing my partner did is make a 'pull out' cup ard from normal drawers and doors. It is fab, so much so that he's going to make me another as you can get right to the back of the cupboard. Why Ikea does not promote these hacks I do not know. To fit everything in, my partner also designed a breakfast bar that has the washing machine underneath it on one side (opposite the tumble dryer) and then on the other side of the island is the dishwasher. It's a great use of space as he's closed up a window that looked onto my waterbutts, fence and neighbour's extension and put in more storage for me.. We played with the Ikea planning app for maybe 1/2 a year before taking the plunge. You can really make it work it you just take the time to plan it properly. He wanted to warn you about the price of cover panels though - the large ones are £127 a pop - a huge price for just a bit of coloured wood, and you'll end up using them all over. For under the breakfast bar, he got some MDF and then glued on some floor tiles, cut through the door of the washing machine and saved us approx £220! (Came to £40 instead of £260). One thing that I cannot stress enough is that it's REALLY worth looking for returns in the 2nd hand bit. You can pick up doors at a completely bargain price so always go and have a look. Ours still isn't finished as we're doing it ourselves (so please excuse the floor protector), but it looks completely amazing already compared to what it was before! Our friends love it. Lights are from Ikea too. Go for Lerhyttan. Good luck!