Best tip there is to CLEAN the kitchen. I'm far from being the best housekeeper but I'm amazed how proud people are of their new stove/hob/island chairs/microwave, yet the kitchen and items are grubby. Clean up + tidy away all those bits that have ended up in kitchen for no good reason, add in some new utensil holders/fruit bowls, hang up some larger hand utensils or remove them, put away all jam + marmalade jars or clean rhe outside + gather together in a small tray, replace chopping board or get one. Change tea-towels, or just use the clean untattered ones, ditto any table linen, place mats, coasters. Yep clean up + tidy up + tidy away first - then you'll see what'll work quickly + cheaply. Anyway, units have to be cleaner before painting

Hello! The paint has been great - it looks the same as the day it was painted, no flakes or any other issues. The doors have been regularly sprayed with flash with bleach kitchen cleaner, and it's not made any difference to the paint finish etc. I would recommend the paint, the only issue is it is a bit ,limited on colors.

I wondered if anyone would have a convincing solution to this awkward problem, so waited a day to respond. The best advice I can give is to prepare and paint the radiator in eggshell finish to match the wall behind it. If possible, arrange a table or other open furniture to conceal it, but leaving a gap in front and above the radiator for the heat to rise. Radiator boxings would just make the problem worse, taking up more space and reducing heat output. As you've observed, developers converting or renovating houses in Islington from the 1960s onwards usually did the cheapest possible central heating arrangement with pressed-steel radiators as close to each other as possible to avoid long pipe runs and notching out joists for the pipework. Not only does this usually result in radiators on internal walls behind obvious sofa and bed positions, it also creates drafts drawing cold air from windows across the floor. We place radiators under windows wherever possible, but making that change to an existing system would hardly be DIY for most people. Plug sockets and light switches aren't such a ubiquitous problem as bad radiator placing, so I look forward to your next instalment!

Hi Ellie I actually have been thinking the same. We are not 100% sure if we would be able to do the kitchen next year but the idea of planning the colours and how they flow from one room to the other is very wise and maybe the hallway should actually be last room to be decorated. We know once we do our kitchen we will need to replace the hallway floor as it’s the same as our dining room so lots to consider really. I think what we might end up doing is just to get a Neutral colour from Dulux for example and freshen it up a bit. There are parts where the paint has been peeled due to the use of a stairgate so it needs paining now anyway but like you said, maybe not to use an expensive paint or do a dramatic change until the extension is finished. Thanks for your comment and help. ☺️