I love anything with a citrus and/or sandalwood (Dusk do some brilliant scents) - I avoid the sweeter flowery scent (rose, geranium are all avoided) and find most candles with vanilla are a bit too sweet for me. I prefer good quality essential oil scented soy candles from either artisan candle makers or Dusk. Did you know that aerosol room sprays - the kind a lot of people stash in bathrooms for "those times when needed" - have some pretty nasty chemicals in them - some are carcenogenic while others can provoke allergies and asthma and cause headaches and Eczema.

Wood and white is timeless. If you don't want to replace the cabinets, just replace the doors. Having said that it looks like the kitchen was originally custom made and replacing the doors would cost a few thousand. Perhaps start by choosing your floor colour and type. Floating floors are incredibly durable and come in fabulous finishes.please avoid shiny faux wood tho, this can really cheapen the look. If you have to keep the tile floor at least regroup it to match in with the style and cover most of it with an island. I rebuilt our kitchen using IKEA flat pack, the quotes ranged from $35k to $30 k. I spent $4,200.00 inc the oven and I now have the option to replace the doors and draw fronts anytime I like. They also use Blum steel draws with soft closing options which are the best quality any kitchen maker can offer, only at a much cheaper price. This room is desperate for an island bench with either seating or outward facing shelves or cupboards. To answer your question you need to decide on what style the rest of the house is or will be first. Is it contemporary ? Traditional etc? Choose your base colours, materials etc there first, then look at your kitchen. This can make the process easier. If there are small children in the home durable doors that are easy to clean is the first thing to consider. IKEA and other companies make a vinyl wrap door in gloss that's easy to clean and takes a lot of "man wear". This again will limit your colour choices. Personally I love charcoal for the lower doors and draw fronts with frosted glass or white for the upper doors, timber floating shelves. Counter tops in faux concrete stone for a contemporary look or white faux stone with a fleck have become the new classic choices. Choose a classic tile or material for your splash back and don't rush this, it can be done at anytime. Take the splash back to the ceiling and loose some of the overheads along the back wall to open the room up. Replace with some floating timber shelves all finished in 2 X pak or resin epoxy, never use just polyurethane in wet areas. Overall first think about your textures that you love and then let that help you choose your colour palette, no more than 3 X colours for your kitchen. If you go with timber finishes, always match your wood colours in the shelves, counter tops and floors. Have fun and remember this is your kitchen, you have to live with it so follow your gut when choosing colours and finishes. I like to ask myself when choosing a material, "will I still like this in 10years time?" If my immediate answer is yes I go with it and use it as a starting point.

We got a custom made flat pack kitchen from a company in Queanbeyan, not sure of where you are. Much better quality, Australian made and you can get exactly the dimensions you want, which is important for a kitchen with so many corners. You might be better off holding on until you get a little bit more money together and put the kitchen in the existing living room and opening up the kitchen dining to the new kitchen for a better flow out to the backyard. The room looks lovely and well lit with high ceilings, paint it and change the handles now and don't miss the chance to do something a bit better later on. Does not solve the dishwasher question though. .....

I have been the reigning dessert queen in my family since a teenager. My mum always lamented that she didn't get the baking gene - it skipped a generation and went from my Grandma to me: my cakes and scones would rise perfectly each time, whereas hers quite often fell flat. Unfortunately, my mother's beautiful singing voice and artistic talent completely skipped over me. My four boys love it when I bake, although blending working full time and parenting and a house with a lot of work to do, does limit the time to bake. A good quality mixmaster is one of the key baking accessories for a lot of baking...but not for scones!!!