We need that picture, Hammonds. Running through possible advice in my head: 1. Paint 2. Don't paint 3. Big art (used, see above) 4. Thicker mantle 5. Thinner mantle 6. Add mantle 7. Remove mantle 8. Paint grate black 9. Cover with drywall 10. Cover with stone 11. Take a hammer to the thing 12. Cherish as is 13. Mirror 14. Remove mirror 14. Sunburst mirror 15. And so on I think your shelves or pressed metal constitute original thinking. Congratulations!

You will often find that the advice you get from your kitchen supplier will be biased based on the products that give them the opportunity to make the most profit. I work as an independent kitchen designer (therefor making my money on the design irrespective of the materials) and constantly find that joineries try to sway my clients away from what I have specified based on what makes them more money. My advice would be that you will get better long term life out of polyurethane doors, but you will also pay thousands of dollars more for them, so you need to assess for yourself if it will be worth it. Some points to consider; vacuum formed (vinyl wrapped) doors will last very well provided that they are a reputable brand and the design is considered. For quality , durability, cost effectiveness and flexibility of styles I would suggest Polytec. They back their product with an extensive warranty. A good kitchen designer will ensure that appropriate allowances are made to prevent heat issues effecting the vinyl doors. These include supplying & fitting a heat guard around any built-in appliances and adjusting the position of the wall cabinets. You willI have problems with the overhead cabinets if they are positioned too close to the stove AND if you don't use the rangehood. If you purchase a good quality rangehood & ensure that you use it when cooking on the stove the vinyl doors will be fine. Also worth noting whilst the vinyl doesn't 'chip' as such it can still be damaged, with damage looking more like the marks / scuffing you get on leather surfaces (think of the toes of your shoes). It does take a fair amount of effort to cause this damage. With the polyurethane doors you will be looking at several thousand dollars more expensive than a vacuum formed door. One of the greatest benefits is flexibility in design and colour (including the ability to have much sharper profiles). Yes it is a painted surface and any painted surface can be damaged by chipping, however the painted surface is still quite durable. The majority of damage I see is usually not from regular kitchen use, but rather from kids who have snuck in with their metal tipper truck and crashed it into the cupboards. The beauty of it is you can touch it up with some matching paint and you will probably never notice. You will also be able to remove a door if the paint is badly damaged and take it into a paint store for re-spraying (but please be aware the colour will not 100% match due to the aging process of the other doors). Essentially there isn't really one right or wrong answer, it comes down to budget and the intended lifespan of the kitchen. As far as natural granite versus stone (Caearstone, Quantum Quartz etc) I would say this depends more on the look that you are after. If you actually like the look of natural granite & have a particular variety in mind you will not find a 'stone' product to give you that look, you are better to get the granite. The cost of granite varies astronomically depending on the variety, where it is mined from, how rare it is, etc. It will usually be more expensive than Caesar Stone. Natural granite can have fault lines in it, which is basically an area which has a propensity to crack. If it has a fault line it is likely to be discovered when the product is cut to size and the stone mason will have to get a replacement. Sometimes they like to scare you into thinking that your benchtop will just randomly crack one day but it is highly unlikely to have a fault line in the first place, and if it does, it won't crack unless additional undue stress is put on it (Like walking on the benchtop to change the lightbulbs!). 'Stone' which will be referring to manufactured quartz products like Caesar Stone, Quantum Quartz, Smart Stone, Silestone etc. is the most popular option for stone benchtops today. It is a man made product and is produced from quartz, resin and various aggregates and colouring agents. It is more cost effective than natural granite, but has a much more consistent look due to the fact that it is man made. Some people who like natural granite do not like the consistent pattern within the man made stone. Other than if you want that 'natural' look, it will be the better option for you as it is generally more cost effective and is also more stain resistant. Marble is a big no-no for kitchens. It is expensive and highly impractical with propensity to stain excessively, and requires regular expensive sealing. Thinner 20mm stone is the fashion starting to come through from Europe but it really hasn't caught on properly yet. I would go with what you prefer the look of, as this will change again before the lifespan of your benchtop is up. Good Luck!

Hi Sarah, I completely sympathise with your situation and very sorry to hear about it for you. You're in a complete mess with this. As a Pro it's super frustrating to look on and hear of these stories because 100% this is so easily avoided with the right approach and astute investment in using a competent design professional. I've lost count of the number of times I've had people eventually come to find us, but in a bit of state/heads done in/in a shemozzle of a situation, after spending time/(sometimes years) and money getting nowhere, being disappointed with higher than expected quotes etc yet still pretty much back exactly where they begun with no logical plan forward.........sound familiar? The common thread is lack of alignment or management of expectations of Project budget to Project brief relationship. And that's why we have a job as professional designers - we develop solutions for specific needs, balanced within context and balanced within constraints, the biggest one always being budget. You just can't bypass this process and expect to get good results. And you won't achieve it effectively on a Houzz forum. Hopefully though a few of our Pro responses will help steer you in the right direction. Unfortunately people think it's a good way to save money on their projects to not pay for design - it's actually quite the opposite. There's no easy answer here of say "move the kitchen there, flip that over, change this or that" etc unfortunately you're back to the drawing board....and you're best to accept the time and money put in so far is actually part of the process and your particular journey. This reminds me of a project years back where clients came in asking me to tweak and draw up a design that someone else had done - they already spent $40K and had a planning permit for it but there were big budget problems - it was clearly/unfortunately a poor & inefficiently resolved design beyond budget (similar to yours) & I could visualise a much better alternative solution. So I convinced them to move on, toss it all away and we go back to the drawing board - I'd redesign it from scratch much better and better value/cost effective overall - they reluctantly agreed and that's exactly what I did. Fortunately they did themselves a favour knowing deep down that they had to go backwards to go forwards. I designed and delivered a far better, less expensive and more impressive home. that they are eternally grateful for, and for my honesty and advice at the time that was ultimately in their best interests. Like always, with all projects, it ALWAYS comes down to money.........so their success relies predominantly in the design solution..... I'll try and keep it simple: 1. Design is a process of balancing requirements within context within constraint/limits 2. Good design decisions involve having understanding of cost/budget consequences 3. the above points are primarily what distinguishes design professionals from amateurs 4. It's therefore false economy trying to DIY design and/or pursue projects of this scale as Owner Builder unless you (a) have a passive income (b) significant construction experience (c) a flexible budget and are just in it for a hit & a giggle So our Advice: Seek Professional Design assistance How we manage these types of projects is by starting with clarifying the project brief in writing - forget about the floor plan - define and specify your brief requirements and goals and define the budget. The next step is to look at broad form options that we develop in a "Feasibility' stage of service in which we analyse the context, identify some logical options/variations of format for a nominated project scope relative to context and apply accurate construction cost projects to each to compare. So in your case we'd be looking at answering the critical questions of in what particular format can we best meet the requirements? Is it with an extension, or hybrid alterations&additions, do we go up, down or out, what are the cost differences and pro's and cons to the different configuration options, how much should we renovate, how does the investment one way or the other stack up in regards to property value? Is it actually better value to do more than less (more often yes!) Is staging/breaking up a project into parts beneficial or proven to be less cost effective? So many questions that need professional assistance and experience to answer to get the best outcome for you and your family. It's not easy business........Labour cost these days is the killer on renos - if you don't know what you're doing (ie understanding how certain design decisions translate to X cost) then you've got no hope in balancing the numbers to success................ Apologies for the long winded response! Hope this helps Sarah. Trust us, we know what we're talking about. Happy to provide further advice/assistance if you'd like to contact us directly Kind regards, Paul Di Stefano Paul Di Stefano Design www.pauldistefanodesign.com

it' not the size of the toilet that matters, it's the size of the humans that need to use it ...allowing anything less than 80cm x 80cm for knee and elbow space, plus more for standing room plus extra for any swing doors and more space for a handbasins and with no other toilet on the ground floor the best option is a separate toilet and i would steal some space off the laundry to make a more comfortable powder room..and the different floor levels don't always prevent stealing some space off the laundry but what is the size of the laundry, including ceiling height at the wall closest to the back of the existing toilet and is the laundry ceiling flat or raked and how many steps are there between lowest floor and bathroom floor?