Please ladies, enjoy your kitchens - you have to live with them all day every day. Unless you are thinking of selling in the really short term then have what you love - the next person will probably replace it all anyway, especially if you plan on being in your home for even 10 years. Kitchens are changing so much with all the new technology and products coming on the market. Mcctrish more photos of your kitchen would be helpful, I really can't comment too much with the photo you have provided, but I have just totally redone my kitchen (all for me) and I intended having a glass splashback but when the time came, I found it was just too plain and would do nothing for my kitchen. I think with the glass, you need to have a stunning feature colour to make it effective. That was my problem, there was no colour I could have to make it 'sing'. Look at photos on Houzz and you will see that glass splashbacks are the feature of kitchens. Start with the splashback before you decide anything else. Also, if you are just replacing your doors, are there any other fixed panels in the room that will be replaced also or will it be necessary for them to stay, which will then affect what you choose.

I'd suggest that the first thing on the agenda would be to come up with an actual design. If there are going to be big changes, you might want to think about a kitchen design specialist. Once you have your design, decide on a budget. That will tell you roughly whether you're looking at granite countertops, caeserstone, corian or laminate. Same with cabinetry: everything is a function of price. By all means, have a good look around kitchen places to see what sorts of surfaces are available, and what appeals to you. And don't forget appliances. Ultimately, though, most of us are constrained by budget.

What look are you hoping to achieve? When you say 'update' can you elaborate?This kitchen looks new. Compared to my old Barbie pink, laminate, falling apart beast, this is a dream! I personally would never paint a kitchen myself- especially not one like this. Lots of sharp edges means lots of future chips/scratches. If it is 2-pack poly you could get it resprayed. I can see scope to change the cabinet pulls, add a plant or 2 to the shelves, bigreaders suggestions about moulding are awesome. Even if you got a cabinet maker to pull out the open-shelves and replace them with a timber or timber-laminate as a contrast. All this would soften it and add personality. I can see your roller blind on the window- changing that to a roman blind with a pattern/texture/colour through it would add character too.

Hi Khanh.... thanks for this. It appears that by looking at a lot of the Houzz pictures with kitchens on an already existing beige floor, it looks good to have a similar colour cupboard door, but have a darker bench top and splash back/tiles to off-set the beige colour? however any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.....Joanne