just viewed your imagined dilemma - the jade colour of doors - are they a laminate - if they aren't - yes if you desperately need a change - have white laminate (like the whole neighbourhood). but if the jade cupboards are definitely laminated I would not replace - for the jade is stunning. Furthermore, you would make a good move to extend the black high-gloss laminate to those floor-level cupboard doors which currently have a wood strip (which the previous owner did (I presume)I would suggest you have a single black strip definitely 2inches high inserted as a line in that area. (this job must be done by an experienced laminator - to perfection (this will eliminate the eye-sore strips of wood.( but it must be applied as a continuous band (from a to b) - not bits - Furthermore, the high-gloss black floor-boards will look good so close - meeting each other. I NOTE YOU WOULD DO WELL WITH A LARGISH SLEEK KITCHEN SINK ( YOU SEE BY DOING THESE SMALL CHANGES YOU ARE GETTING A WHOW KITCHEN. Am I imagining the green which seems to extend to the ceiling line is not cupboards up there if that is so do not take the green up to the cornice - the cupboards are the feature not the walls - the cornice in that room should be taken out - having the plastered wall reaching the ceiling without cornice. Your kitchen cupboards are the feature.(it would be good to paint upper walls and ceiling. Just "off white" I am reluctant to tell you the kitchen window should be wider as the kitchen has a message but the window is like a poor relative. If you carry-out these changes - the kitchen should be free of everything else - no utensils on the stove, nothing on benches or on top of other areas - the colour and impact - that is all that is needed (plus it has become modernised) - despite your belief that white is in - maybe in hospitals. Good Luck

I use a magnetic strip and love that it keeps the bench clear. I don't like knife blocks very much as they are hard to keep clean. I use quite a few knives frequently and I don't find they get dusty at all – and the ones I use less frequently, like the fish filleting knife, I just wipe with a damp cloth before using but, as I usually touch it up with the sharpener before tackling a fish, I would wipe it after sharpening anyway. I have mine near the stove but in a reasonably discreet spot so I don't feel that they are out on display.

There's the two of us, so hubby has, shaver, shaving cream, soap, toothbrush and solvol soap, as he's a mechanic, horrible stuff but it works to remove grease = 5 I have body soap, exfoliating glove, face wash, private wash lol, shampoo, conditioner, comb, shaver, shaving cream and toothbush = 10 Forgot, nail brush, back scrubber AND scissors which makes 13!! All this stuff fits on a shower thingy hanging off the door as there are allot of smaller items. When the new house is finished, rather than a his and hers hob, we're fitting 2 glass shelves and a soap tray for two

The flies you are complaining about are probably not fruit flies at all but vinegar or ferment flies (attracted to vinegar, yeast and acidic rotting fruit etc) – of the genus Drosophila. They do not actually eat fruit although they will hang around a fruit bowl full of ripe to over-ripe fruit (as well as your scrap bucket) attracted by the yeasty, vinegary smell. The first thing I would say is don't keep the scraps on the bench for long enough to allow your biology experiment to run and produce several generations of flies (Drosophila are one of the most commonly studied organisms in labs around the world because of the speed with which they reproduce makes genetic variations from generation to generation really easy to study). If the container has a lid that fits snugly you should be able to leave the scraps for a couple of days but why wait until they are actually rotting – take the bucket outside and add the contents to your compost heap regularly! Genuine fruit flies are also attracted to ripe fruit (they lay their eggs in them and the resulting maggots rot the inside of the piece of fruit) but they are disticntly larger than vinegar flies (rarely do you have a 'cloud' of fruit flies) and you are required by law to keep them controlled as if you start breeding them they will disperse and attack fruit in your and your neighbours' gardens and could even infect orchards etc making the crop of fruit inedible. So – first check and identify your flies (Google photos of both vinegar/ferment flies and Queensland and Mediterranean fruit flies). If they are the small vinegar flies just be more on the ball and take the scrap bucket outside well before the contents start to rot. If they are genuine fruit flies you have a real problem on your hands and need to start educating yourself on garden hygiene and management. Whole different ball game!