Almost twenty years ago when my husband was in his infant 60s, he had decided to replace the floors in our kitchen from the conventional builder-laid linoleum-type to ceramic tile. It was an enterprise that took some time, from ripping up the old material, laying down and screwing in thick plywood, and finally mortaring in the tile. While he was at it, he decided he would also do the walls.

And oh yes, rip out the existing countertops, rebuild them and tile them too. Come to think of it, why not do the laundry room? and the breakfast room, abutting on the kitchen itself. So why overlook then, the powder room just off the small hallway leading to the laundry room and the powder room from the kitchen? And if all that is being done, surely the hallway couldn't be left undone?

So, if the floors are being done, the vanity countertop ripped out of the powder room and its walls tiled as well, makes good sense to do it all! And so, he did it all. Including my baking island that centred the kitchen floorspace. It is, in fact, topped with the very same tiles that were laid on the floor, and it has proven to be a perfect surface for rolling out dough for pastries, or kneading bread dough.

When my husband rebuilt the kitchen counters, he put back the original double stainless steel sink in its countertop, but he bought a new faucet set. This was an expensive faucet, produced by American Standard, with a lifetime guarantee. It was different, in that besides a spray function it also had a ceramic water purification system built into it. There was a little computer in it that would alert when the ceramic water purifier needed replacement, about every three months. Eventually the store where we'd bought the set no longer bothered carried those cartridges.

And eventually, over time, one thing after another went awry with the faucet set. Each time we would contact American Standard and they would respond by immediately sending to us a replacement part to rectify any situation that arose, and my husband would replace the offending part. Several weeks ago the faucet went completely rogue, nothing seemed to work, and suddenly water was being sprayed everywhere.

Again he called American Standard and as was usual with them, two days later we received parts that in theory were supposed to eradicate the problem and make the faucet once again fully functional. Except that wasn't was happened. So yesterday my husband hunkered down under the sink counter to disassemble the faucet set and remove it, preparatory to replacing it. Easier said than done. It took quite a long struggle the removal process was resistant to wrenches, and eventually he had to resort to using a reciprocating saw to get the job done.

And then off we went to one of our local big box stores to select a replacement. This one, by Moen, a company which also excels at responding well when something goes awry with one of its products, is simple in comparison to what it was replacing; no filter, less to install, and the job was completed in good time, much to my astonishment.

The tiling in all those areas of the house has stood up well to time and use; a practical and beautiful solution to both time and use.