If I am right in thinking you are keeping the kitchen and appliances, just making cosmetic changes then I would suggest something along these lines.

Being a narrow room, I would try to place emphasis on that back oven wall, and paint it in a mossy grey colour like wallaby or urban grey. Both these colours will work with the soft greens you have in there, and work as well on traditional or contemporary homes.

I would consider removing your overhead cabinets above the cooktop and put in a canopy rangehood Atleast for an illusion of space, allowing the light to emphasise vertical space. I would then install some simple open shelved cabinets (flat pack or knocked up of ply) placed just above your tile line next to the window, and as far into the corner as is comfortable.

Pit will give a better placement for things like tea coffee, mugs etc..

Your back wall will look brighter, and the benchtops running your sink wall will tie in seamlessly.

i would then look at buying a butchers block on castor wheels, idea, Bunnings or even gumtree will have many to choose. Some have wire baskets or drawers below for fruit and veg, and they area great handy serving spot in small kitchens. Often with a cutlery drawer, you could even bring in a casual stool either side.

Maybe to balance out the cabinetry, obviously not an option to build on the wall as its already so narrow, but create an illusion that works in bungalows, and that is to fix some simple vertical timber or mdf battens say 50mm wide up the wall to about 1800mm and then run a horizontal timber on top to frame what will look like wall panelling. Paint it too in the mossy green you choose, keeping above it a clean warm white or beige.

Id move your fridge next to your door also.

Good luck

Thanks so much for those ideas. So would all the cabinets under the bench also be the mossy grey colour. Do you suggest that the butchers block is just extra bench space, not a spot to sit and eat ?

I would keep the cabinets below your bench something neutral, like sarsen grey by laminex. Which can be paint matched.

The butchers block I would get as much as possible, so some have a fold up flap table to sit at and use, others more storage underneath.

The kitchen is a small space so I would use a very pale "eau de nil" colour on all walls. If you have the budget gut the whole kitchen and use s/s appliances, natural wood lower cabinets and white upper cabinets. Otherwise replace the lower cabinets with a wood or wood veneer, (perhaps similar hue as current blind). I would replace the blind with a pale coloured one, or paint the existing in eau de nil. A small island with exposed shelves rather than cabinets to create the illusion of space is a good idea if you have the room. Add a couple of stools and you have a seating area for guests to watch you cook, or a place to sit an browse the net. There is so much you can do but I don't know your budget

What do you most want to achieve? Just modern look or bench space or seating Do you use your microwave or have a broom cupboard elsewhere?

What's colour around back Door - peach?

The microwave is currently sitting atop the fridge gg.

Will the fridge fit in that space at the end of the bench between the side door and that small wall return?

If you want seating in kitchen you can get a half round drop table attached to the wall and a couple of folding chairs that you can hang from a hook on the wall when you want the space. Ikea have a lot of affordable options. Make sure you attach table and chair hook to a stud or you could be in trouble.

I'm going to be frank here, this kitchen is nowhere big enough for what I presume is a family sized home and would be a major issue if you came to sell. If this were my home I would have extended the room first before renovating the kitchen. Kitchens and bathrooms are the major rooms that sell houses and you need to get this area right. At present that door is eating up valuable space and the fridge position is wrong. If you can't or won't extend then get the door relocated to another room ie whatever room lies behind the bifold doors. I wouldn't spend another cent on it until something is done to create more space.

Thanks for all those comments. It would be nice to replace everything but it was done in stages and some bits cost a bit. Taking shape piecemeal with out a whole perspective resulted in the dilemma now. I would hate to lose the stone bench top and the tiles laid recently to match it. The rest is negotiable so I really aim to tie it together. No one is tending to sit in the kitchen they rather sit in the living room. And yes I need better shelf space and spot for microwave and I did hope to get the fridge next to the door beside the wall return but I would need a thinner fridge. I had hoped to remove that door altogether and use the bi fold doors in the living room as an exit but they may not be ideal for that. So my main aim was to tie together the bench top and floor with colour and maybe some modifications to the upper cabinets?? The back door is actually and off white.

Yes portpiro thats right. The kitchen space was created by previous owner doing a simple renovation of the older small bungalow design. I didnt have the money to actually extend it earlier and began trying to make what was there better. Eventually I could extend it to merge with an external laundy area making it much bigger but that was not in my budget just now. thanks...

I'd just put microwave behind wall return to streamline fridge side and if you don't usebackdoor have s free standing island in front for extra storage and change colour blind as don't tie in with anything else and leave rest until your budget allows or get kitchen consultant to draw up plans cost for plans about $250 to give you ideas and coatings to work towards in future

Gigi personally I like the colour "eau de nil" a lot. When you say pale, do you mean quarter strength ?? When you mention an island with open shelving, what location are you thinking of for such an island. Its a long space about 5 meters by only about 2 meters. John