My comment may be a little too late but I have designed many kitchens where it improvement in isolation would solve nothing so I would alwYs recommend thinking about and addressing the entire open space you are in when wanting to improve it. Your comments lead me to think perhaps you want to spend as little as possible while getting he biggest impact possible. I agree with many comments and think Ain't it the first answer. The kitchen cabinetry call all be painted easily as they are timber, the oven drew my attention, and would need to be a priority upgrade if ever to sell, it looks very old. So if nothing else, take. It out and the under cabinet and replace it with a freestanding, source online auctions, eBay or clearance warehouses you will find many to choose from, and a 900mm oven will make life easier, it will also give you an in line bench top height and expose some more backsplash, which is my next point of consideration. The brick here dominates your eyeliner, so using adhesive, apply fibre cement sheeting to the splash back and tile it in a light tile, if you use led lighting, under the top cupboards would be great as they would illuminate the bench top and splash back instantly making your kitchen feel brighter and ambient. Secondly, this new brightness your kitchen will have will contrast with the darker adjoining room, which will only make the dark seem darker, so you need to gradually address the adjoining room with something from the kitchen, and horizontal surfaces are a great place to start as the cover the entire area like a blanket, so the floor is tile, and difficult to change without major time or money, so on the ceiling, your beams are a beautiful feature and every room has a part of the architecture that will work to your advantage, here are yours, although th ceiling in between agreed is not great. You can buy timber battens from hardware stores very cheaply per mtr, the pine 45mm x 18mm will do, fix them to the inside of the beams along the longest sides, and then either nail to those lining boards, which I would paint white or the same as the kitchen cabinets. Or you can buy lining board sheets, it may be the single biggest cost, but will be the single biggest improvement thT you Nd future buyers will appreciate. Leave the beams timber to work with what you have. Lastly, the brick wall that comes from th kitchen onto the lounge area, I would paint them also, not in a white again the contrast will be too strong, perhaps in a warmer shade, like a coffee tone. This cladding I mention would also look great along the back of the kitchen breakfast bar, and you will double the size with these improvements. I know it involves cost, but with structural elements and big spaces, it always will cost you, just choose where improving will have the biggest impact and go for it. These are things you can do yourself, or use a handy person, so no real trades are needed to complete- save that for later! Good luck. ML Design

Hi Daman For it to work well the Oak should be in two block areas, if you just have one small area it doesn't work as well as you don't get the continuity that creates visual harmony Hope this helps. Avril designer kitchenmaker

Hi Sofia, the latest trend is that all white kitchens are on the out, so breaking up the colour scheme is and introducing natural elements, which is now the trend, is bang on. Well done. A natural style includes natural materials and colours. The thing is what sort of natural. This comes back to your style. What is it? Natural rainforest feel, desert, beach? If you think of your home in this light, it helps you to choose the right direction through textures that you can then take throughout your home to streamline it and increase it's appeal. In decorating we also look for opportunities to add contrast, so I see nothing wrong with a dark bench but here's the other lesson! Uniting your colours is vital. You have a timber look floor and a grey splashback - they are different. They need to be merged. Merge them in your benchtop with a Ceasarstone (which is worth every penny you put into it for the resale of your home). Something like this one: http://www.caesarstone.com.au/colour/6270-atlantic-salt ...Which isn't too dark, has a gorgeous contrasting texture and yet the timber and spalshback hues. Wallpapers are in big time and have been for a while and are not going out. Try picking out a major wall here and there and hanging a textured or a natural themed wallpaper ie leaves pattern, depending on the style, in a natural colour palette to match your floor. The whites, greys, blacks are neutrals - which go with anything. Compliment the colour scheme with Green which is a receding colour and will create the illusion of more space in a small space, and you'll have a natural style and theme. Lastly, again, depending on your style and theme, you'll need art to confirm exactly what these are. I am a customised artwork specialist. Your artwork again, will unite all your colours and create a focal point for the space... and so very much more. Have fun!

Oh no - does the black bother you? I basically just need induction and hopefully something that's reliable. It's on sale at the moment and does seem to have a lot of great features for the price but not knowing much about the brand I'm nervous about the quality and having issues with repairs. I do like the idea of the whole bench being white though as the cooktop would be the only black and I'm not sure if I'll regret it if I don't try it. So hard to decide! (First world problems!)