. Its just way too much timber! So the floor should stay, because its harder to change. Start by definitely at least pull out the part of the kitchen with the weird enclosed fridge space. that really cramps the room. Then pull of and replace the cabinet doors and the laminate bench top. pick some amazing tiles and have your husband work his magic! Paint the walls a nice colour to really make the space look more vibrant. Get rid of those horrible blinds completely! We are doing out kitchen up and we don't have much money or skills or access to tradespersons anyway. So we are keeping it to a minimum. Do it little by little. We started with a new stove with really changed the feel of the room. We plan to just paint the cabinets.

We are in a community of 300 homes built by two builders in the 1990s. We are the first owners; the house was already finished when we bought it. This was going to be our starter home so we were not looking for a perfect layout, just chose the best of what was available at the time. Namely based on location in the neighborhood.

lots of different paths to the end result..our usual procedure is to start with confirming what's possible by talking to local council (and/or check building applications on their website) collect ideas of what we think we want, make rough sketch, talk to several builders (preferably recommended by trusted friends or rels) for rough quote and expected timetable, revise rough plans, talk to council to confirm that ideas are within guidelines, compare with what's available from local project home builders who are supposed to be able to take care of all details.. Once you're confident about who and what you want to build, have plans drawn up (by architect, architectural draftsman or building designer) then go back to builder for more specific advice, confirm funding allowing at least 10% contingency (without any changes), revise plans, confirm quote with builder, submit plans for approval, confirm funding, sign contract with builder and then "plan for the worst and hope for the best"...all before any thought about tiles or windows or decoration etc etc...don't be in a hurry, delays can be opportunities to find something better and there's always something that needs research like bathroom fittings and new stoves and colour schemes and tiles etc etc and best of luck with your new homel

Jacqueline Macho, I agree the sink between the two pantries would be too dangerous. I would check the measurement for your work area between the sink and cooktop. As you have a large cooktop and sink between the fridge and oven...is there enough room to do all the food prep? I love a clean island and have never liked the idea of having any cooktop on an island as it seems too dangerous. A large sink takes up too much room on an island, especially if you’ve forked out for lovely stone or granite. I have for my new build, which we have been in for a month now, put in a small round bowl. I’m glad I did as I use it for food prep, and it has filter water for drinking. It doesn’t compromise the look or use of our island. I have a large and deep sink in the butlers for doing the washing up. I only have one dishwasher...yes folks just one. As my benches are 950mm high I opted for an Asko xxl....they are taller than others. After renting a house with a fisher and paykel dish drawers, I swore never to have them in our new build. So I personally can’t recommend them. Others might like them. Kitchens cost so much that’s why we obsess over them.