Cheapest thing to do would be to paint the doors put a bit of timber benchtop from Bunnings and perhaps mirror the back panel, but where's the Bar Fridge going or are you planning a bigger fridge nest to this. As Louie suggested it might be better to get rid of the old as there's no place for a much needed Bar Fridge, A Barn door of whatever style suits you would work well, you can pick up second hand doors with character for this. Then again some Bunnings timber benchtop , (Mel) fitted & supported by beams screwed into the rear and sides of the nook and hidden by a strip across the front as your bench top. With a bar fridge under this, floating shelves above on the wall for bottles /glasses and DVD player etc, much easier to use the DVD when it's not in a cupboard love the room.

Appreciate the feedback guys! Decided to complete the render on the brick walls and ended up getting rid of the brick rangehood (seen on the left hand side of the previous photo). This allowed more light into the dark kitchen. Painting the cupboard doors has also lightened up the space. The kitchen feels light and breezy now... though it's not completely finished, as we still have more painting and rendering to do, including the additional cabinetry and a rangehood to install. Because of the festive season, we decided to put the project on hold; putting the doors back on for Christmas lunch. Future plans include installing cabinetry (below) - where the plant is -which will house the stovetop, and also cabinetry above where the brick can be seen (top LHS). We'll install a rangehood above the stove top and cut a whole in the cabinetry (on the RHS) for the fridge. Where the fridge was previously, we'll put up a wall which will hold wooden shelves for tea, coffee, mugs etc.

check "pinch pleat" style hooks...usually available at Spotlight, Bunnings, some department stores or any curtain maker but you can often find a few odd ones at teh Opshops to test which shape suits your curtain...they have the hook part that hangs on the track but also have prongs that project upwards and can be fed through several vertical loops to make a pleat every 10 cms then a smooth gap, rather than continuous gathers, and hold the curtain upright..the different styles have the hook attached a different levels along the prongs so that the hook can be hung higher or lower....the right one may depend on the weight and width of the fabric to suit the curtain space...making the curtain narrower can sometimes help and another option is to add weights to the hem of the curtain.. some special curtain weights look like big flat metal rings about the size of a 20 cent coin and are wrapped in a small pouch of fabric that is sewn at intervals along the inside of the curtain hems...(lots of work so try hanging a few keys on safety pins along the hem to see if that helps before you start sewing) best of luck with this very annoying dilemma

Dr Retro, you are a designer after my own heart! My triple fronted brick veneer house was built in 1965, extended in 1970 and I try and stick to furnishings and influences from the 1950s to the end of the 1970s! I am its third owner, but have discovered its history via my elderly neighbours. I also have lots of antique vases, crystal and fine bone china, as was popular in the 1960s and 70s in my lounge room. Cannisters in the kitchen are all straight from the 1960s purchased by my mother, then handed on to me. Meanwhile my sun room is an explosion of plants , cane, colour and knotted pine feature wall. Whilst I have double glazed and slightly tinted the lounge room windows for privacy, I try and maintain the period integrity and hope to heritage list my property. So many glorious homes of this era are being knocked down for building town houses and macmansions, especially those on huge blocks, like mine. It is an easy house to live in and I am grateful for my separate kitchen, with easy access to the open plan dining room and lounge, as it keeps my dog out of food preparation areas. I love the cosiness of my kitchen in a home of otherwise vast spaces too! The separate living areas and kitchen have at times, made it easy for 3 generations of the family to happily coexist here, which in a totally open plan home would have been difficult!