Hi iggs85 as it is an older kitchen I would not spend a huge amount of money on a revamp. It is definitely possible to paint laminate but good preparation is vital to ensure the paint 'sticks'. However a quality painter is going to charge you about the same as your resurfacing quote. Using either a painter or a resurfacing company does let you choose any colour though. The biggest disadvantage of the current benchtop is the bullnose which is very dated. From your photo, the colour and pattern look OK but you could get a stone 'overlay' put on it. They square off the bullnose so it looks more contemporary. An acrylic feature panel on the return is another alternative to vinyl planks. It looks like glass, comes in a good range of colours and is relatively inexpensive compared to glass. See http://zenolite.com/range as an example. You can buy acrylic sheets from Bunnings. You could also use pressed metal panels as a feature eg. http://www.wunderlite.com.au/catalogue/details/1/79/pressed-metal-crystal?start=25 Add some new handles on doors and drawers too.

Thanks dreamer, might look into a sliding window for the splashback. And have put the benchtop as 650mm for now, may increase further. Thanks siriuskey. I am leaning towards your design and using the corner as appliance/pantry. The bifold from bench height up would certainly work really well functionally but I’m not sure I’d like the look. I’ve sketched up having the area 800 deep to house the fridge and to have a step in pantry/appliance cupboard (500 deep bench, 300 step in cavity). 2 variations of the cupboard, first with sliding doors opening from centre (approx 1m opening so might feel a bit pokey), or second with perhaps stacker doors to right or bifold (this would block off bench space between pantry and sink when open though). This cupboard would be pretty big (2280mm) so don’t think we’d need the appliance cupboard next to dining area. And could have oven under cooktop. Dining and kitchen could be separated by small wall.

thank you for the suggestions & the photo helpful I get down to a ushaped kitchen with a 2.2m island & sink maybe across the U and a servery bifold window - does this close out the room and make it look crowded ceilings are 3.1m OR the island butted close to sliding doors which looks like an island when sliding doors are opened like the photo Also does the window splash back add very much in a small kitchen with no outlook from this window, that is the splashback window spilts the attention focus and doesnte seem to add much to the overall perspective. Is a more traditional title a better option & shift all of the focus to the large sliding door opening & garden.

its ot easy to remove that brick pillar. 1. load bearing 2. power comes through it - i have to cut the concrete floor to chase the power down or need to leave a small post there. 3. would make a big mess knocking down all that brick, attaching new steel beams etc, then it wont match the ceiling and cornice, just too many works with council plans and permits, the cost outweighs the look i believe. i could just cover it with something nice and hang some photos, put a notice board, reminder board etc. to answer the above, only planning to put 2 stools in the island. can we please focus on the design, i mean the drawer and cupboard sizes and its positions, placement etc and lets not discuss more about the pillar. Few things 1. The kick boards are 100mm high as opposed to 150mm to give more space in drawers 2. Cutlery drawers are 100mm high 3. Bottle/spices/plates drawers are 200mm high 4. Pot drawers are 380mm high 5. Fridge over heads are 350mm high i believe any wine/liquor bottle will fit in that height 6. Other overheads are 350mm high and 350mm deep with push open doors 7. kitchen bench to overhead height is 580mm, cooktop to rangehood height is 780 7. total kitchen height is 2400mm 8. pls check the wine rack spacing 9. there is two open shelves under the overheads to put small glasses and some plates for quick access 10. pull out bin near the sink 11. 860mm single bowl sick with add on bowl and drainer etc 12. fully integrated dish washer 13. cupboard next to it 14. microwave and cutlery drawers are in the island opposite to fridge and cooktop 15. push open cupboards under the island where the overhang is. 16. There is not dedicated pantry in the design, my pantry consists of 600mm deep drawers, a bench and 450mm deep over heads, bench to overhead height is 430mm, plan is to put the small appliances in the bench. wife doesnt want it to be closed as she doesnt want another door to open everytime she needs to access a toaster or so, or putting a big door will expose the internals of the cupboard when we access the toaster, in her terms just exposing the appliances by itself is better than exposing everything in the shelf. To summarise i have 100mm high drawers in 2400mm length(cutleries) 200mm high drawers in 7800mm length(spices, places, biscuits, other small bits and pieces) 380mm high drawers in 4500mm length(mostly for pots, pans and other long bottles) 180mm high drawers in 900mm length floor cupboard in 3800 length 350mm high overhead cupboards in 4500mm length 5400mm shelves in the pantry 10000mm bench space.