Our home is a comfort driven election of many types of timber and styles having been donated bits from great grandparents, grandparents, parents and even a friend's old pine kitchen table that had been chewed by her dog! We may be awarded any trophies for our home but it is full of memories of our 50 years of marriage. The only bit of furniture I really do not like and regret buying is a tipple galas shelved TV unit. It is almost impossible to keep clean. Gilly

We have a pull-out section in a wardrobe with 3 sections (whites, brights and darks) for dirty laundry. It's in our bedroom so might be a pain if there were other people in the house. I keep meaning to put in some fabric bags (the drawer is a bit too deep) to make it easier. Clean stuff for ironing is on the shelf above. The ironing board is set up in a spare bedroom but I like to iron in our bedroom so that I can watch TV at the same time. Plus the clothes can be put back easily into the wardrobes without carting them around the house.

I like the hamajima takuya vases, I find a lot of Japanese pottery is timeless, it goes equally well with antiques or contemporary themes, elegance is a prerequisite for a Japanese potter.

I think that the fire place is beautiful as it is and does not need any make up!! The sideboard on the right is no so big at all and if painted with different colour than grey and distressed could become a much lighter piece with its own character. I would take the top off the left one and again shabby chick it, filling the doors with ornaments to make it more interesting. It is amazing what a transformation you can achieve with a bit of chalk paint! I am using chalk paint for my oversized wooden clocks and it can give an amazing look to a piece for wood: Giant Shabby Chic Wooden Wall Clock Contemporary Large Wooden Wall Clock Rustic Oversized Handmade Wall Clock Give it try before you get rid of them:) Anna