It seams like a lot of these threads are so old! People keep randomly finding a post that is a year or two old, and comment before looking at when it was posted. I wish houzz had a way of deleting old threads that where inactive!...

In the interest of keeping your kitchen friendly to as many users as possible, may I suggest you avoid knobs of any description. Older people and those with disabilities/reduced function of the hand/arm/shoulder often struggle to grasp and pull on a knob. 'Push' closers and D (or U) shaped handles with a min of 50mm height from surface are much friendlier in this regard. We are building our retirement home and - although we are both well and dextrous at present - it is so easy (and much cheaper) to think ahead, we're discovering. Setting up the place to be comfortable for as many users as possible is also pretty satisfying. Personally I'd like brush satin steel long D handles with an elegant line. Black on black might be hard to see for some and in low light.

A good cabinetmaker should be able to make these. Each rack is simply a drawer without a bottom, some corner reinforcement blocking, and dowel fixed across. You won't be able to buy this off-the-shelf as all drawer widths are different. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Thanks everyone for your feedback, I appreciate the honesty and agree with some of the points raised. I took a punt on the colours (whisper white & Oolong) and styling (bulkhead and nook feature wall) after talking with a Dulux colour consultant (via Skype). The Kitchen layout definitely needs to re-organised, as well as replacing the tiles and the grey (!) cement grout. The cabinets are poorly designed with a single shelf in each, so have a lot of under utilised storage space. I recently had a consultancy session with IKEA kitchens, just to get an idea of what the possibilities exist in making better use of the existing kitchen layout (without expanding its existing kitchen footprint). As per my original posting, l Would like to be able to tie these projects together and coordinate them as one project rather than have separate projects for kitchen, flooring, decorating and furnishings. The next step is to make contact with an designer and discuss and get someone through my front door. Once again thanks for all your feedback. Cheers