Hi B, I used to live in a "tall and skinny" and the challenges were plentiful, but it was fun to decorate. Check out my artwork for ideas on your walls. Large art can help you visually separate your spaces without having anything on the floor taking up space. I have many originals, and hundreds of configurations of canvas prints that I can print to the size you choose - some of them very large. I ship outside of US on rolled canvas in a tube to manage the cost of shipping. http://www.etsy.com/shop/katshoa Enjoy decorating!

Congrats on doing the planning and thinking about how you will use the space, absolutely essential even if you don't do a lot of cooking. A well planned, functional kitchen will make your life easier and add value to your home. I am an avid cook and long time renovator so have done many kitchens in my time. Looking at your space and how I personally use a kitchen I'd suggest two sinks. A small prep sink on the stove side and a large double bowl sink on the island, with dishwasher underneath. I think your hotplates are in the right location as long as you have at least a 500mm or more of bench on the wall oven side and then ideally approx 2m (if you have it) from the hotplates to your prep sink. This divides your kitchen into zones, prep, cook on the back wall and clean up, serve on the front. If you tried to put everything on the back wall it would be too crowded and not work. Think about a desidng that allows for two people at all times to be in the kitchen, you do this by dividing your kitchen into zones. Prep, serve, clean up and think about how you entertain or liaise with the family whilst you are in the space. I hope this helps and best of luck with your new kitchen.

Hi Heather and Malcolm, thanks so much for your input! Good to know about the face panels, Malcolm, that would be way cheaper and easier than getting the window shortened, I’m guessing. The handle on the sliding opening window is movable so we can slide it higher and will still be easily accessible. I wonder if it would be hard to clean down in the sill space behind the face panels. Sorry, I should have said - yes we are intending to have an island of bench in the middle there, same spot as current bench left of current sink. The dishwasher is in it, actually, just left 90degrees of the current sink, so I’m a little worried that might be weird having it away from sink when sink has been moved. Maybe we should move both dishwasher and sink and put side by side in new kitchen? As for the fridge, it’s on the back wall (photo below) so we’ll just leave that in current position I think, probably.

Are you replacing like with like in regard to the footprint? Or do you need to pull out the existing kitchen to move walls for the new kitchen? Cabinet makers in my area are quoting a minimum six month wait just for the cabinetry. And stone benchtops are on a different timetable. It sounds Iike you’re a fairly new renovator. Do yourself a favour and go and pay the few hundred dollars to do access the information/course from Katrina Chambers. I have I no connection apart from having followed her since she was on The Block but she is very down to earth but her information will pay for itself.