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Hi Karina. Haha very funny re your art piece, KitchenAid! Baking is so much fun; I'm a baker from way way back, and you learn by just jumping in and doing it. About the height of your combined dining/bench table, it's pretty important to have a height that's comfortable for you whilst you work. I'm tall and my family is too, so we had the benchtop height built higher so we are not getting backaches from constantly having to bend over to work. It's really more important for the one who does all or most of the cooking & baking to be comfortable as you can spend long periods of time reading and working out recipes, then putting it all together. Likewise, if you are shorter, choose a table that suits you. Best wishes and keep us posted.

Hi Jennifer, I concur with all the other comments here but please avoid all dead corners! Make one long stretch of cupboards along under the window and put cook top at dining end: it will be safer. Sink and DW doesn't matter at family room end. I would keep the oven tower with microwave on the other wall with the fridge, build in as large a pantry as you can there and have drawers everywhere. Outside I suggest a pergola with deciduous vine over it. It will allow sun thru in winter and beautiful green cool shade in summer. Tho having said that I do not know where you are. Maybe building pergola up from the raised garden bed, leaving room for planting underneath and vine over the structure will make area look larger. Always love to see the final results. Hope the bathroom is ok: better the water on the outside of the walls! Hah Cheers Margot

I personally think the blue ( both the garage door but also the roof ) dates the look -- if you hadn't said 10 years old , I would have guessed at mid-90's ( 25 years ago ) . If the budget runs to it , I'd do the roof in a surfmist or similar -- a lighter tone with silver and blue hints to it . Going darker will get too warm at a guess . If the budget doesn't extend to repainting the roof , how about doing the gutters in a bold red or orange -- still costal vibes , but with that stand out Wow ! The Portico I would leave , but do in a charcoal ( monument or similar ) -- it gets the contrast , breaks the front profile , adds interest . OR again budget dependent , but imagine that portico done in some form of rock -- real or fake ( just not too fake and obvious ) -- stacked schist or similar would be expensive if real ( $20k installed ? ) but even $1500-2k for panels would add some class . Do that , add a letterbox , coastal gardens , and stand back . You note I haven't mentioned the garage door , because possibly it will look okay ? Doing it a charcoal , especially if you have done the portico , may be too dark and over-bearing , but what about a yellow ? Sunshine yellow or even a mid-yellow -- it is the beach after all ! Again , budget dependent , but changing to a stained timber door won't be cheap , but , especially with a stone portico , it will look upmarket !