Hi, I would paint it with chalk paint, no sanding ( I use Annie Sloan - not available at Bunnings ) have a look at purple lady painting tip page, the best I have read. I use the soft clear wax to seal. I really like the depth of the paint. You could leave the bench wood or replace, I wouldn't use chalk paint on bench top, or any other paint. Chalk paint is expensive but saves priming and sanding so maybe more comparable when you do that sum. Changing the knobs will give a revamp as well. If you do choose an Annie Sloan paint and want white use the antique white, it has much better coverage than the pure white. I buy the paint on line as my nearest stockist is 160 kms from where I live. I use correct brushes as well, very expensive but I do take very good care of them, I was them out in softly and gently scrub down the bristles with a soft scrubbing brush

We had a house with a timber ceiling - it is a tricky decision. If it is a cheap display home build perhaps cover it, but if the quality is good it is a much harder decision. I think it looks good now and could be made very interesting. Also that look is "back". Make sure your lighting is very good and the heaviness will dissappear somewhat. The floor is lovely.

If you are building a new home the cost of the tap fittings, whether they are top of the range, or cheap and cheerful aren't going to have a huge effect on the total price of the house, unless you decide to go with solid gold! There are thousands of decisions to make so you need to be sure that you are getting value that won't go out of style. I like the quality and style of Sussex Tapware which is manufactured here in Melbourne. I am sure you could get cheaper without the style (or quality). https://sussextaps.com.au/ Best of luck with your thosands of decisions, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

As a former renter, this was the exact property I would usually rent. Good functional condition, not my style but who cares? I never even inspected the all white and engineered benchtop places as a few visits usually revealed the renovations to be somewhat shabby, the places to be incredibly small and not good value for money at all. I always rented outdated properties as I typically got more space and better terms than places where landlords were desperately trying to recoup renovation costs. You're going to demolish the place so why spend any money on it? Changing out the flooring and even painting the cupboards and swapping out appliances will cost you thousands to get done and then what? Are you really going to reap x2 x3 times that expense in one years rent? I doubt it. First of all, I would have the place appraised for rental return in it's current state. And then appraised for rental return if it were tweaked. You will most likely find that any renovation will take years to recover the costs and actually make anymore than renting it out as is. For reference I was a long term tenant in all the places I rented, no I didn't leave rubbish around anywhere or have burnt out cars in my driveway. I left each property scrupulously clean, even having the existing curtains or blinds professionally cleaned and carpets professionally cleaned on exit. I just preferred value for money in rentals because I was saving to own my own home. Good tenants don't necessarily need renovated places to rent. Tenants are always constrained by their income, they can't afford to spend over 30% of it on rent alone no matter how nice. We have lives to live too.