I love my Asko dishwasher, great brand, it has many options, like water temp, top draw only if it's not full, fast wash, heavy wash, etc it actually uses less water for the normal wash than the full bowl on my sink. Our house is on all rain water so no need for the finish product to get rid of the calcium in the town supply that leaves the streaks. As someone with a spine problem, standing in one position doing the dishes is a real pain! We are building what should be our last house at present and I have designed our kitchen to have the dishwasher up off the floor with a draw under it, that way when packing and unpacking there is less of that half bend for my back. Just in passing I have a 'black belt' in dishwasher packing everything goes in and the kitchen is clean in jiffy! When I was working full time it was my sanity, I think a clean kitchen makes every home look like a clean home.

So, who wants to take my $10 bet that someone will get on and tell you to paint instead?! lastly, I recommend you look at solar tube skylights as a cost comparison to a full refinish. It would lighten up the whole ceiling and room, with little heat gain, and a saving on light bills.

Yes! Sand, paint, sand

a cabinet maker, tiler and glazer can custom make a new shower with corner door and a built in wall hung counter for a small offsett and underbench washer (no need for doors as there's only enough space under the sink for a waste bin) and use a mirror doored 20-30cm deep wall cabinet for storage ..check out small stainless steel bar sinks for the narrowest sink to fit within less than 40cm wide to make sure there's enough space for the front loading washer