Of course kitchens of this style often have hanging pot racks which I like to call pot chandeliers. Source an old ladder with character and hang from the ceiling on hooks and chain above the ding table for a talking point or be creative an use a pulley rope to lower it above the corner bench top next to the oven. Pots and crockery take up a huge amount of space. Allocate zones and use them practically. This bench in the corner would make a great breakfast nook, where a toaster, coffee station could be set up and have baskets underneath for dry store pantry items. Select a feature colour for the room, use it in fabrics stools or prints to add personality, perhaps select a fabric and create a pelmet over the corner window and also hang it below that bench top on wire curtain string to hide all the bits below. A gingham would look great Ml design

I think getting general suggestions is great, since it might open up ideas about things you may not have considered. Just an observation, but this kitchen seems like a small but efficient kitchen that perhaps does not have to meet the needs of preparing large family meals, rather, it has the essentials and mod cons that meets your needs. I suggest installing a pull out drawer with both a USB and power outlet inside that (or beneath) and a tuck away stool, to use as a hot point to charge and use your tablets, phones etc. Quite a few modern kitchens allow for these hot points to pay bills, order groceries online and only need a drawer for pens, papers, chargers etc, ultimately they end up in a junk drawer or worse on your bench top cluttering up your precious little bench space. Being clever, you can look for a stool that is perhaps a foldout step ladder, to get to overhead cabinets, and make use of any vertical storage you have also. So I'd go with a hot point, aka workstation.

Yes I must have ;-)). I planned to post earlier but had to hunt out the tin. It says to leave for 24hrs between coats but that’s dependent on weather conditions/humidity. I managed to get 2 coats on in a day if I started early enough & did the 2nd late afternoon. Yes, it came from Bunnings. There are others brands such as Feast Watson but I found this one really good. Put it this way those benchtops of mine (in bathroom & laundry) have been in place for over 5 years & they still look great. Correct, if you’re joining the board, don’t coat the end grain but make sure you coat the grain of your sink cutouts & also silicone well around the sinks. Good luck with it!

I actually have a mix of drawers and cupboards and a few shelves in my kitchen – each was chosen according to how they would be used. So there are drawers for nearly everything (crockery, saucepans, baking equipment, mixing bowls, small appliances, salad bowls, chopping boards, cutlery, tea towels, aprons, oven mitts, appliance manuals etc etc) although I have a few shallow, push to open handleless cupboards for wine glasses, bottles of alcohol, vases etc that open into the dining room. I have a few open shelves in a recessed section of wall for serving platters, large and small, and small decorative items like jugs that give me pleasure to look at as well as two shelves for cook books. I also have shelves in my pantry as well as a cupboard with pull-out wire baskets. And a wonderful tall cupboard that has the brooms, dustpan, hand-held vacuum cleaner, fire extinguisher, step ladder all stored neatly and accessibly. So a real mix of drawers and cupboards – and it works really well as well as giving me pleasure!