thank you for your advise. I have put images of the outside of the house as that where the dining room is from there we will be bringing the decking out 3 metres which will create an out - indoor eating. this is the most finished room giving you an idea of the colour and house. all blue grey tones. sorry about stuff around but a reno house is hard to find spaces below is kitchen as is looking out to the dining through that open servery but we are taking most of that wall out to make an open space - its very small step down below into the dining through the left door way. below is the now dining. the table is very small and hard to pull chairs in and out of hence the indoor out door considerations. belwo is the outdoor looking in. from those doors we are putting a 3 metre decking i think. we have a lot of yard so its easy to do

Thank you @oklouise for your detailed response and proposing a plan! Just a couple of responses and questions regarding what you've mentioned: - Agreed that we need a proper plan in place before doing any big kitchen renos. I've been doing research all day and have better understanding of how complex the process can be. I think a complete DYI kitchen will be out of the question for us, so we will shop around for builders and a cabinet makers to get a better feel of the costs involved - Agree with leaving the 70cm wall, at least on the side where the fridge is. Spoke to my partner and we will amend our plans - You mentioned that you like the stove location but think the kitchen is too shallow to have the stove and kitchen there. Can I ask why? I've seen a couple of examples where stove & island is 1 meter apart, which seemed to work. - We unfortunately won't be able to have the dining table in front of the stove, as we won't have enough space to accommodate quite a large couch & TV in the remaining living space :( I'm still gravitating towards having an island, as I prefer some separation between kitchen & living space Cheers, Xenia

I , as often seems the case , look at things differently . The cupboards look pleasant , and I gather you want to keep them -- without knowing their condition , I would too . The wooden window sill and door surround are great too , as is the floor . Nothing wrong with the stove and hood either ( can't see enough of the hood so I might be wrong there haha ) . I could live with the taps and the sink ( it has character ) . The tap I categorise the same . I'm sort of in-the-middle about the dishwasher and fridge -- the white doesn't quite work with the stove and even the cupboard colour . Ideally , I'd replace , but I wouldn't get too upset if I had to keep them , at least for a couple of years . So my 'don't like' list is the benchtop , cupboard handles , and the tiles . A couple of others have beaten me to it , but I'd go wood for the benchtop , OR marble or a good marble effect -- offwhites with grey and charcoal streaks . I'll let you make that choice haha . BUT I'd use the sink and tap , as I consider it ties in with the stove . So that leaves the cupboard door handles , and I'd go brass , probably antiqued brass ( darker ) but not an old style with scrolls or stuff -- modern , but as dark brown as I could get . Tiles -- probably those strip ones you get , with narrow charcoal slightly sparkly parts , silvery parts , brushed stainless parts , with a grey grout . The power point on the right I'd revert back to brass plate/surround . If I could , change the fridge and dishwasher to brushed stainless too . So you have wood , darker brown handles , the light cream , stainless , more wood , more stainless , and maybe a greyish marble or more wood .

Is it a wood laminate , or formica or those plastics ? Some will paint up better than others . POSSIBLY , painting the cabinets themselves in a white , but leaving the doors as they are , may work -- theres too much wood look there . And I'd redo the tiles -- even if redoing in 5 years , I'd spend the $500 or less and redo , regrout , etc . Possibly try removing the grout and re-doing in white for a more modern look , but only from a distance haha -- personally I'd go for full tile replacement .