My builder has used it often and successfully - the Laminex display I visited was very impressive. It doesn't suit our open, U-shaped kitchen but if I were doing a 'strip' kitchen I'd use it rather than glass as its a fraction of the price with the same look.

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!

Hi Belinda, thanks for letting me know about your daylight. That is really interesting - so the pool and garden - and a living and dining area - are to the east and south of the house, due to the orientation of the block no doubt, and the bedrooms are blocking off all the north light! I am guessing this means the house gets a lot of light from these windows in the morning until midday, when the sun swings past the bedrooms/bath/laundry which block afternoon sun unless these doors are open. Further, the kitchen is hemmed in on all 3 sides and really just faces due east - good because this is where the garden and pool are, but with little view to the south dining and living area, which presumably are used as more formal spaces. The good news is I don't think you would get much benefit from relocating the kitchen - I think it is in the best spot, kitchens are much better at being internal 'hubs' and linking to living areas - it is these living areas that we want to connect directly with outside. I do however have something else for you to think about longer term as a masterplan....and I am guessing here because I am not sure of the shape of your garden.....however next time your en-suite is due for a major renovation, you could relocate the main bed, w.i.r and ensuite across to the current south-facing living room and dining (or study). By doing this, you can create a complete open-plan east end to the house, and all living / dining areas would have direct garden and patio access and more importantly much more sunlight. The north-east corner would be part of this open-plan space and would need a new large window on the north wall. You could extend this wall slightly if funds permitted but this wouldn't be essential. There are both smaller and larger masterplan alternatives; for example a smaller option (for the masterplan) not involving any plumbing, is to swap bed 2 and 3 with the south living room/study area (blocking off the hallway area) and open up the north wall of the kitchen to look into this new formal north-facing living room - this could be quite fun and definitely would add more light to the house. However in the meantime good luck with the kitchen renovation, and look for images that show suspended overhead cabinets as a way of dealing with the raking ceiling!

my suggestions include a door between dining and family room, opening up the wall between dining and kitchen to allow for a 7' island bench and knee space for drawers and desk on either or both sides and a "window" between kitchen and dining with cabinets above head height...the existing sink, dw and toilet space remain the same but swopping the rear doors for wide sliding glass would improve light and allow easier traffic and furniture arrangement including a wall of free standing cabinets that could include extra kitchen and dining storage as well as tv, books music etc