Another photo

Well if the room is dark, I would go for white cabinets. You could look on ebay for a pre loved kitchen in good condition that you could remove and reinsert into your place. There are bargains to be had if you are patient . I got a great built in wardrobe on ebay and reinstalled it at my place. Looks great and a fraction of the price!

That roof that is blocking light from your kitchen, can you replace some of it with Perspex etc so you can get more light into your kitchen?

obviously kitchen splashback tiles are dated. Subway tiles very popular and would not be expensive.You are planning to resell in a few years so although white is conservative it will not offend people and will make it easy to resell house in the future. Just add color with furniture and accessories

The lino isn't in good condition and doesn't go well with anything, we have the new flooring, just havn't put it through the kitchen yet until its been rebuilt, since the bench is coming out further (to make more space) the floors have to be done last. There is definitely not enough storage space currently. I think the idea with white cabnets is a good idea, we were reluctant at first to go with white but considering the room lighting and reselling this seems like the way to go. Although, we were thinking of going two colours (white on top shelves and another colour on bottom, and a white valencia colour laminate benchtop. Thoughts?

I think you are right about the roof blocking light, we will consider looking into the perspex down the track. I'm awaiting the design from the kitchen builder, will post this when its received, might take a few days. Thanks for all the comments so far! Much appreciate the help.

If you choose white gloss cabinets these are pretty widely available these days. A light coloured worktop, say in a sand colour will fit in well. And as a splash back a tinted mirror, say in grey or bronze, will add depth, reflect light, and give your kitchen an elegant and spacious feel.

Something similar to this in colour, the benchtop will be the same.

<div><a href='https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/cosy-hamptons-style-transitional-kitchen-townsville-phvw-vp~39841272' target='_blank'><img src='http://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/7a61e94005f8f1e2_8-1523/transitional-kitchen.jpg' alt='Cosy Hamptons Style' border=0 width='500' height='334' nopin='nopin' /></a></div><div style='color:#444;'><small><a style="text-decoration:none;color:#444;" href="http://www.houzz.com.au/pro/ethosinteriors/ethos-interiors"; target="_blank">Photo by Ethos Interiors</a> - <a style="text-decoration:none;color:#444;" href="https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/transitional-kitchen-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_10444~s_2312"; target="_blank">Browse transitional kitchen photos</a></small></div>

For more ideas, browse through portfolio on our website www.pridexdesign.co.nz

Looks like fun!

My suggestions are install an island worktop which can double as a breakfast bar. Mine has a wooden top, and four big deep drawers, top ones have sliding removable narrow layer for cutlery. The wooden bench top is untreated (no varnish, just naked wood). I was very sceptical to start, but has proven to be fantastic. I just bleach down and scrub with Jiff every 6 months, comes back like new, and even handles baking dishes straight from the oven without damage! I think it's an IKEA product.

I would always take my cabinetry to the ceiling to avoid dust and grease and to keep it looking tidy.

The use of deep drawers and slide out pantry is fabulous for seeing everything in a flash. Careful when choosing handles, some look great but tear your clothes.

As for colours, try matte black on some random door fronts, looks great with crisp white and steel. Black and white teatowels and hand towels, matte black huge industrial light, stainless steel interior. If budget allows, strip lighting around work surfaces. Also, have you considered just new door fronts and new co ordinating handles?

best of luck from someone who has lived in DOZENS of kitchens .

Would love to see the house plan to see how the kitchen sits in the space. OK, so first house, limited budget. I assume the timber flooring is going in kitchen, if not the area will look small and not flow.

I'd remove the entire row of metal sheets on patio near the kitchen and replace with clear it will make a world of difference and it won't cost much.

Tiles are dated but appear in good nick, you can paint them, I've done it a couple of times and it works a treat as long as you do the prep. You can do a few random tiles in a different colour if you want.

Same goes for the cupboard fronts if they're fundamentally sound. You can make them crisp high gloss white with sleek stainless steel handles, or you can remove a door or two and paint the inside display area with a pop of colour or black. Low cupboards could be painted a different colour. Then you can afford to buy a decent new benchtop and sink with an updated tap arrangement, they're what people see close up. You could buy a new corner cupboard front from Ikea to replace the dodgy one and it will contrast nicely in glass or whatever, depends on your scheme.

Make sure sink is big enough to take your largest baking pans/dishes but has a smaller than your current drainage area, (I don't recommend round sinks they're not practical) and unless you use a second sink don't bother you don't have the room.

Oh, I have pull out pantry with metal baskets, first and last time, hate it, HATE it, no room at all a complete waste of space, so get 2 of those (if you must) or have bookshelf width shelves with double doors somewhere, better than all my walk-in's, pull outs and I could see everything. I had that one in a kitchen your size on wall next to fridge. The whole width was 2 metres with door in each wall tight next to fridge and pantry, a nightmare but the pantry I adored.

Good luck, have fun, I haven't done a reno for ages and feel like coming over I'm in the mood haha...

I'm not a professional designer but did do a cert IV in interior technology a few years ago. If budget is tight I would stick to a simple design and do as much work yourselves where possible. Obviously there will be jobs that need to be done professionally too though. Sometimes you may need to compromise design over price to stick to your budget so when choosing cupboard/handle/benchtop designs and colours I suggest choosing 3 of each favourite, cheaper option that will work with any colour and a medium/compromise and choose a combination that will work for style,colour coordination and budget. I agree that a soft/off white colour for cabinets work well in any kitchen(even a soft/light grey) and are great for selling a house as it provides a good base colour that will work with a variety of themes/schemes. Choose benchtop wisely. White on white can work in cases but colour choices are key for that to work. I will post a few pics below for what can work as far as good colours that will work in most kitchens. I suggest keeping to natural colour tones. It obviously depends on what look you are going for throughout the house as well. The white cabinets will not only make the room feel lighter but more spacious as well. If you need more storage, use as much wall space as possible without it being cluttered. As far as a backsplash goes, I agree subway tiles are great but if you want something a bit more edgy/high end just make sure you do your measurements and calculate how much those tiles will cost you. They can be surprisingly expensive. I suggest also painting the walls white or a very light soft grey to go with whatever choices you make. Have fun guys. Let me know if this helped

The layout of the kitchen is functional as is. If you move the oven to the other side it'll be too far from the sink for hot liquids, plus it'll be in a walkway. In it's current location the oven would be next to the doorway (but not a thoroughfare) so be sure to leave 200mm beside the oven. A pull out spice/oil rack would be ideal. By leaving the oven in it's current location you'll save on electrical costs. The fridge would be ideally located where your proposed oven site is. A broom cupboard could be placed next to it to make up the space.
To let light in I suggest cutting out a small section of the tin roofing in the pergola area and putting tinted polycarbonate roof sheeting in it's place. IKEA has great kitchens flat packs that are easy to put together.

Hi all thank you for your advice, we're happy with our chosen layout and colours now. We had to move oven as the gas was already connected on the other side. We've gone with light colour scheme. Here is a photo of the current construction, kitchen will be in by the end of next week. Fingers crossed it looks good.

Thank you for the update. What did you decide to do about the lack of light? Do post pic's of the finished area.

We are getting down lights put in and will be looking at doing something with the coverage outside to let light in down the track. Will post the progress through the week

Lights are in. Few more days until it will be all done. Might need some help picking tile! Waiting for the kitchen to go in first.

If you're not getting a lot of natural light in your kitchen, then I would kindly suggest you go white, antique white or even cream, both in cupboards and walls, as the natural light will bounce off the walls and light interiors and create more illumination and light (if you know what I mean). Good choice about replacing the Lino with floating floor boards. The style of the kitchen cupboards should be a classic style - something that won't ever date or go out of style, therefore adding more value to your home.

Kitchen is in! What are your thoughts on the splash back? My partner choose the colour, not sure if I'm happy with it though.

Looks great! Once you have a few colourful accessories on your bench it will brighten up. Next project to really make the kitchen shine is remove a couple of those patio roof panels and replace with clear ones, the kitchen will look huge. Congrats a great job.

It is really refreshing to post the after photos. So many take the advice then leave posters in limbo. Your kitchen looks lovely. We have used a similar door colour before and it warms a house up.

Your kitchen looks great. Can you please tell me if your top cupboards are white or off white?