Practical functional easy to clean kitchen ... I would bring colour & style in with things like bar stools & kitchen appliances ... It looks as though it connects into a living area ... That is where you can bring in your personality ... Great space along the top where clock is ... Again another space to colour with your style with art work ... If you have a free wall add in a kitchen type piece of furniture, that has open shelving... I think it is quite neutral & easy to inject personality without major changes to what is there.

The flies you are complaining about are probably not fruit flies at all but vinegar or ferment flies (attracted to vinegar, yeast and acidic rotting fruit etc) – of the genus Drosophila. They do not actually eat fruit although they will hang around a fruit bowl full of ripe to over-ripe fruit (as well as your scrap bucket) attracted by the yeasty, vinegary smell. The first thing I would say is don't keep the scraps on the bench for long enough to allow your biology experiment to run and produce several generations of flies (Drosophila are one of the most commonly studied organisms in labs around the world because of the speed with which they reproduce makes genetic variations from generation to generation really easy to study). If the container has a lid that fits snugly you should be able to leave the scraps for a couple of days but why wait until they are actually rotting – take the bucket outside and add the contents to your compost heap regularly! Genuine fruit flies are also attracted to ripe fruit (they lay their eggs in them and the resulting maggots rot the inside of the piece of fruit) but they are disticntly larger than vinegar flies (rarely do you have a 'cloud' of fruit flies) and you are required by law to keep them controlled as if you start breeding them they will disperse and attack fruit in your and your neighbours' gardens and could even infect orchards etc making the crop of fruit inedible. So – first check and identify your flies (Google photos of both vinegar/ferment flies and Queensland and Mediterranean fruit flies). If they are the small vinegar flies just be more on the ball and take the scrap bucket outside well before the contents start to rot. If they are genuine fruit flies you have a real problem on your hands and need to start educating yourself on garden hygiene and management. Whole different ball game!

Probably the cheapest fix is to paint the cabinets. Especially if it is a DIY job. But it is a lot of painting. If the budget stretches further then I’d update the hardware/handles/pulls and remove that overhead cabinet near the stovetop. That would open things up but it probably also means repairs to the ceiling and wall it is attached to. Do a google image search of painted oak cabinets for inspiration. Some of them come up really well. Not much can be done about the colour of the appliances except for replacing them which is expensive. There is appliance paint but I’m not sure how successful it is, and you can’t use it on the cooktop or oven glass. Best of luck with this project.

I’m not sure if your budget allows but perhaps it might be worthwhile to consider engaging a design professional to see what they suggest or if you can create an alternative front entrance into your home? Maybe redirecting any visitors to your front door by creating a front porch area that has access off to one side so they can’t see directly into your home until they are welcomed through the front porch & into the rest of the house? Without seeing the front of your house, I’m not sure this will be an option either but just thought I’d suggest it so as not to internally close the space down further? Nik