Wow love it! So fresh.

consider a comprehensive front landscaping solution that takes the attention away from the building to the garden/external elements, with repetitive and layered planting. If you want to go further bagging the brickwork and/or just painting it with a contemporary grey would certainly give the whole thing a significant makeover. This photo/project below was a 60's cream brick monster that we managed to tame/control a few years back - you could do get similar result with yours with just strategic cosmetic and landscaping investment - good luck :)

Great timber cabinetry work but it does need to lighten up. You want modern function whilst retaining unique character. Agree new range. Sink looks good but an updated tap would be useful. Lighten the walls, Dulux Natural White works well with wood. Pair with a light olive green colour . New splash, a quirky tile to keep the individual personality. new light fittings as it seems a very dark in that room, any natural light coming in? New floor, a light concrete ceramic/ vinyl tile to contrast the timber. Can the overhead shelving swap out ? Replace with a floating timber shelving that is completely open? Paint walls behind the open shelving. This won't restrict stage basket size and will appear larger. New cabinet handles , again something unique. A great project.

Great to hear that you have had a good experience in an unpopular neighborhood. Our first home was an ex-army house in the extremely unpopular South Auckland of New Zealand. All we could afford then... and we lived there happily for seven of eight years. We loved our home and our initial neighbors, many of whom we are still friends with. But as folk moved on and a rougher element moved in, break-ins began happening, clothes stolen off the clothesline, plants, pots, ornaments, swing sets and even a trampoline! It was no longer safe to leave a door unlocked let alone open. The crunch came when youths began to harass our children walking to and from school simply because they believed it was their right to take what they wanted (uniform and shoes, food) and trying to force them to buy drugs, We moved on. I guess it comes down to; is it just an unpopular demographic area? or is it a rough area, gang related residents, drugs on the street etc? The question does not stipulate why an area may be deemed unpopular. I said above to choose the better area and this is what we did second time around, we live in a preferred area of a demographically unpopular rural town in Otago, NZ and love it here. We have renovated and will be mortgage free in our retirement. However we would never again live in an area unpopular because of the crime rate.