When choosing a front door just don't consider the door, but the whole door frame. Often sidelight and highlight windows can contribute to the appeal of the entry, and bring lots of light into your entry hall, even when your door is closed. You will also need to consider the proportion of the door width to the height. I think that a standard 820mm wide door that is 2700mm high looks too skinny. If you are going for a high door then it should be proportionally wider. Here is a photo of a custom made timber door that is 3 metres tall, and 1.2m wide in Blackbutt which weights 130kgs. When you get to this size and weight then you need to consider the hinging carefully. The door was crafted and installed by Dr Retro's friends at Sawdust Timber Furniture. Expensive, but worth every dollar as it makes such a great impression.

Depending on your budget I’d paint the cabinetry, replacing the doors if you can afford to and just painting them if the budget is tight. Just a thought, maybe it’s possible to fill that detailing in the doors to make them appear flat once painted. Not sure if it’s possible. It’d be a shit of a job but then you’d have solid wooden doors. And new handles. The same with the tiles. Paint is a cheaper option. New tiles would give a better finish. Remove the window valance. Perhaps resurface the benchtop with a product like rustoleum. Replacing the oyster light with something more contemporary. Open shelving can look great and lighten a space but think about whether this compromises your storage capacity. Everything will be on show. I think if you paint the cabinets then the floor won’t look so bad as there will be separation between the similarly coloured floor and ceiling. Cork is great in kitchens as it’s soft so it’s easy on your legs and back and forgiving if you drop things. It’s also making a comeback, as are timber ceilings. I would choose soft flooring for a kitchen over hard flooring. Kitchen floor tiles are a pet hate of mine. In my next build we’re putting rubber or cork in the kitchen. You’d struggle to put a double oven next to the fridge as it’s a thoroughfare. You’d also lose your pantry. Is two side by side 60cm ovens a possibility where your oven currently is?

Thank you for your comment, I feel like the Tassi oak woodmatt matches well in your photo! You kitchen sounds similar to what I am doing also With the front island and feature shelves. We are also using a polytec woodmatt for our bathroom cabinets. The designer choose prime oak for us as it has more black colour to match the feature grade. Hopefully it works out, although our floors in the bathroom are tile so the blackbutt is not directly against it.

I was just looking over all the advice and the drawings that have been done for me showing how paint would look in various places. Thank you so much everyone for the time and help that you have given me - plus your honest opinions. I have decided that over the long term, all of the raw timber on the walls will go, but I may also remove a section of the wall joining kitchen to loungeroom. I am not sure whether it will be removed and sheeted or whether it will be sheeted over in some places, and painted in others. What I decide is going to determine what the architraves and window frames look like, because to sheet over the timber means that the current architraves will not be thick (deep) enough. A carpenter has already suggested just using painted MDF due to the difficulty in getting timber architraves at present and their cost. These are decisions that I am not ready to make yet. I have no idea whether it would be best to keep timber window frames and door frames or whether to just have white. Your opinion on this would be appreciated too. For now, the lounge room and entry wall will be painted. The undercoat will start to tell me whether all white or black and white is better. I have a painter coming tomorrow to start. I will be doing some painting too, but I know he will prepare it a lot better than me.