You have a few options here to make some big improvements. 1. You could remove the wall that has the doorway in it. You may need to relocate your stove and range hood or you could have a range hood that you can see "in the round". You would lose those upper cupboards though. or 2. You could remove the other wall to the side of the doorway. This would then mean that your kitchen would open up to the living area but you would lose some full height cupboard space along that side. I also noticed that your TV is located in that corner. Do you need it there or can you relocate it to free up that wall? or 3. Perhaps you could flip your kitchen so that the breakfast bar is near the dining table rather than at the other end. The stove and range hood could then go at the end where the current breakfast bar is as well as upper storage cupboards. Having the kitchen open onto the dining area could be very nice if that's what you are after. It depends on the rest of the living area, too, whether you would like to open it up totally as well. There is a lot to play with here and it can be a lot of fun. I wish you the best of luck with your renovations.

We used Bunnings flat pack shelving in one of our walk in wardrobes, I'm pretty sure it is Melamine and it is fine. There have been a lot of advances and improvements to these products over the years and they aren't the cheap nasties they used to be. Ours are a matte finish too so look much nicer and classier than a gloss. Have you asked the joiner for a sample of just what he is thinking? This should give you a good idea. Check out Bunnings flat pack products too. You could use just an MDF and paint it, but that is more work and the paint can chip or wear off on shelves. Unless you want to go to the expense of having all solid timber, you will find most products are MDF coated with a timber veneer or a product like Melamine. Going on what I have, and I know Melamine was used internally in my new kitchen cupboards, I don't think you will have any problems. If you are having shelving, do ensure you use adjustable shelving too - it is such a bonus in areas like this when your needs can change over the years and it is so easy to just add or subtract shelves or adjust the height. The wire systems are OK for some things but over the years the plastic coating cracks and breaks off and you could then have difficulty replacing the baskets. You are also more restricted with sizes.

It could be horsehair plaster. Plaster used to be re-inforced with horsehair, but it looks more like fibreglass strands. Horsehair matched the period of the original home, whereas fibreglass doesn't. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

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