I'd just do the splash back and bench tops.

I don't mind the doors that much actually.

The splash back is what I dislike due to the feature tiles.

Painting laminate involves taking off all the doors and priming them outside in the fresh air, with ESP laminate primer. Then send them off to have two coats of your choice done professionally. They have to do the carcasses in situ, which means the toxic primer smell in the house.

me, I'd leave the cupboards alone in this case.

Painting the splashback tiles to a white/cream colour would make the whole space feel bigger and give it that light & airy feel.

You could also get the benchtop re-sprayed to a marble-look. (cheap and fast).

Then maybe change the door handles to something a little more luxe...

And add a pelmet above the window?

Thats what i'd do! a few quick fixes to spruce up the area :):) all the best Jasemin!

Paint the cupboards white and leave the rest. Your splashback and benchtops are quite acceptable. I've never painted laminate and would get a professional to do the job.

Painting the cabinets is alot of work and will no doubt cost more in time and money to do. I would replace the benchtop with a new laminate - there are some really great colours and finishes now available and re-do the splashback. Painting the tiles looks tacky, new tiles can be installed fairly cheaply or glass or Metaline could be installed over the existing. The other updates you can do are new handles and a goose neck tap will make the sink look more modern. Also painting the walls with a grey based neutral or a colour will lift the space.

It looks to be in great condition, i personally would live with it and save my money, then rip the whole lot out in a few years. Ive had a lot worse and it gave me extreme pleasure to bash the smitherines out off it when we remodeled, i now have an amazing designer kitchen that fits into our active lifestyle. I've had friends that have remodeled an existing kitchen and now wont pull it out as they spent too much on fixing it up.

Bench top and splash back only otherwise you risk spending too much tweaking things. It's a bright kitchen but the view from the window is a bit sad - not sure if you have room but a vertical planter with lots of greenery and herbs would be nice or perhaps clad that section of the fence in something attractive.

Does anyone know how much it would cost to have the cupboards painted... in Sydney I presume?

Ive done a couple of kitchens - latest one was a complete new install of secondhand cupboards - they were timber and so easier to paint. However i did one a few years ago which was similar to yours - pine laminate doors. I cut took off all the doors and drawer fronts, cut some mdf into strips which i glued and nailed onto each one - shaker style! Esp then 2 coats of enamel paint, new handles and i had a new kitchen. I replaced the awful benchtops with timber ones i made myself and tiles a backsplash. That kitchen sold my house for me. I did get new sink and appliances but the whole lot cost me around 3k. The cupboards alone around $200. If youre short on money and can go without doors and drawer fronts for a week or so then do it yourself and save a heap of money. The carcasses were in good nick and i painted the doors in a soft smokey greige colour which went with the white carcasses. I can post some before and after pics if you like

I would leave the top cabinet. The wood doors actually is fashionable again. I would paint the tiles, the cabinet doors below and around the breakfast bar keep it light. If you are up to it, I would get rustoleum laminate paint to change kitchen benchtop to mocha or something. But start tiles splashback and cabinet doors first. I'm not a big fan of curvey handles. I prefer polished rectangular door handles.

The benchtops are kwila and I got the tiles at a good price as they were an end of line but by laying them in a diamond pattern they look a bit smarter.

apart from the plumbing and electrics, I did the lot myself.

Well done! Never would have believed they were the same cabinets.

Thankyou. The pics don't really show the colour its called smoke pearl and it is such a pretty colour i used it on the master bed walls (in lo sheen acrylic)

Back on the subject of painting laminate - if you use esp you should use an oil based paint. You can use acrylic but it will scratch and takes forever to dry. I used super enamel and got a great finish which is really hard wearing

ESP needs maximum ventilation.

As a painter and decorator i would suggest you leave the cupboards until you can afford to change them properly. Painting laminate even when prepared properly is only a fix it job, You will have to paint the carcasses edges, end panels, the underside of your overhead cupboards all insitu even if you take all the doors off to paint. It is not a small job and i have completed a few over the years even after suggesting otherwise to my clients. The finish is not long lasting and it would look terrible as it starts to wear and scratch around handle areas.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Jasemin, there's some great advice people have posted here so I won't repeat some of the suggestions that have been made, but you might like to get some inspiration from 101 Kitchen & Bathroom Design Ideas (free download) which compiles colours and designs from all over the world.

Have fun! Richard@themakeovergroup

We recently renovated my son's kitchen/ family room in a weekend. His oven needed replacing so it was a good opportunity to 'fix' it all. We rang around and got quotes on having the cupboard doors professionally painted but it was way too expensive so we took the pine laminate cupboard doors off and painted with a white laminate paint and replaced all the timber handles with chrome ones. We retiled with 600x 300 white marble look tiles (leftovers from our bathroom) (cut the old tiles out and re-sheeted the walls so we had a good surface to tile on) and repainted ceilings and walls. Replaced a dark timber venetian blind with a see through 'sun-out' blind and painted all the architraves white (previously mission brown). A new mixer tap replaced very ancient 'double' taps. We were totally shattered at the end of the weekend, but the kitchen looks a million dollars and the room looks twice the size now the pine and mission brown have gone. We are pretty chuffed with the result achieved by us unprofessionals!