A little bit about me!

[Paris Girl]

Trying so hard to think of something wittier than 'hello' to introduce myself but let's face it what else can one say but 'hello'.
I found you through A-Ms delightful blog and have been following you all for a while and finally got around to signing up to the forum. What brought about this decision? I have questions of course!
My story is not unusal in Brisbane this year. Our beautiful fully renovated old home had the Brisbane River pour through it in January. The house was almost completely destroyed. After several long and painful months we made the heartbreaking decision to pull her down and start again. Cost wise it was the easy choice, emmotionally not so easy. So there is a modern new build going up on our block, hopefully high above any future flood waters. The old house sat under the poinciana tree, the new one looks into it and over it.
As this has been forced upon us and is not a dream home building project rather one of necessity and I cannot get my head around some of the choices I have to make. I have insisted we have med/dark timber floors again.The lighting and kitchen are causing me the most grief. Like many of you I love a white kitchen but, and there is always a 'but', I fear that while kitchens are going to become overdone. Yes I know a white kitchen is timeless, clean etc etc however publications are full of them, real estate ads are full of them and spec homes (not so much project builders) are also full of them. Recently a copy of Brisbane News showed 17 kitchens in their real estate section, 16 of the 17 were white. My colours through the rest of the house are taupe, greyed taupe and white so am wondering if I should keep continuity throughout the house and introduce taupe (ie Linen c/s ****ake c/s) into the mix. All questions for the boards I guess. Why call myself 'Paris Girl'? I've visited many times and is where I would like to live long term.

[Julie-Ann]

Hi Paris Girl - welcome. We hope you have lots of fun chatting with us here.
I am so sorry your home was so badly damaged during the flood. It must have been an awful experience for you. But we would love to help you built an even more beautiful home for your family.
You are a lucky thing going to Paris more than once. How many times have you been? Do tell us in the Travel forum all about your favourite places and things to do there. I will be reading closely as I am likely to be there myself next year.
It is probably best to ask about the white kitchen under the Kitchen forum so that everyone sees it. Personally though I think a taupe or grey kitchen is more likely to date than a white kitchen. Colours go in and out of fashion but white sticks around because it is the ultimate neutral.

[dmplus3]

Welcome, Paris Girl.

I can only imagine your heartbreak at having our beloved/hated river do that to your house, and then the decision to demolish a house that you had obviously put a lot of work and love into.

We are about to start a new build, and originally chose a kitchen in Alpaca (Laminex), Belgian Oak (Polytec) and with Caesarstone Nimbus benchtops. However, due to the colour of our walls, I reverted to Polar White (with Belgian Oak accents) cabinetry. We'll probably update these later to a high gloss finish.

So, in terms of your ideas about linen colours, I am all for it! Can you put together a bit of a concept board and post it in the kitchen forum? Then we can provide some considered feedback!

ETA - Actually, if you have a look at the Selections page on my blog, you'll see the Alpaca up against our dark bamboo flooring.