I had a similar situation in a house I moved into years ago. I did a quick fix of painting all of the walls, woodword and the cupboards the same shade of cream. Sounds a bit OTT but it really knocked back the cupboards, which in all honesty are not something you want to make a feature out of, and created a calmness to the whole space. In your case, I would go for an off white so that the gang plug wires, radiator pipes and covers hiding the wires for the extractor fan etc., are disguised as much as possible -- that will tie in with the palest of the tiles in the splash back, and then you will have a pretty basic colour scheme of a very place colour and the dark worktop, fireplace and floor, which will stand out more. I think you need more storage with doors -- that bookshelf isn't doing anything for the kitchen. If you could get something in there that could hide lots of clutter -- even if just something cheap from IKEA, that would help greatly. Or work something around the filing cabinet that you have? A huge cheap mirror over the fireplace would bounce some light around too. If you don't want to go for undercupboard lighting, and if you have enough plug points, how about some lamps on the worktop, especially at the FF end with a floor standing lamp at the end with the chair. For the table, I would go for a table cloth and reupholster the chairs if they are not to your taste. A new blind in a much fresher colour would be great. Depending on the colour of your filing cabinet (if you use it), I think a petrol blue could add a nice vintage vibe to the chimney breast, and make more of a feature of it. I would try and go down a vintage/slightly industrial route rather than country. You may have some stuff lurking around that you could use, once you have got the base colours right -- currently it just feels a little cluttered and a bit of a mish mash. Best of luck. Looking forward to seeing some after shots :)

I'm glad you are going to keep it, I think the sage green of this suite is spot on with today's trends....pair it with some warm grey slightly lighter on the walls and it will sing! Lots of modern chrome in taps and mirrors and it will look cutting edge. I'd go with a slightly darker tone of grey on the floor, maybe that textured industrial vinyl with the circular pattern, or something softer and plain if you are not that game. Add a tiny bit of wood - a wicker style plant pot or something, to soften the look. I've got mirrored cabinets on my walls for hiding bottles etc. They have sexy LED lighting and also demisting built in so no desperate wiping of mirrors when you are out of the shower. Many, many years ago (in Oz) I did a bathroom with a 1930s primrose suite...pale lemon. Tied it with terracotta on the floor, white tiled walls and a Portugese hand painted rustic border tile with a bit of strong yellow in the pattern. Looked fantastic but not exactly cutting edge these days, unless you have a rural holiday home on the continent.

Hi @J Lo no we haven’t bothered (yet). Generally its been fine. There’s no escaping the fact the long feed does create a bit of unavoidable condensation but it’s nothing major and easily manageable with some workaround measures. I got some cooker hood filters and cut them to size to lay on top of the cooker hood to trap the grease and smells more. i also fold a piece of kitchen paper into a square and put that underneath the motor of the fan so if there are any drips through where the motor unit is screwed together (that is the main culprit!) its well absorbed. The filter lasts about 3 months before I change it. The kitchen paper I change every couple of weeks and just to stress its a tiny greasy drip each time that dries up. I just change it for cleanliness when I check it and wipe the side of the fans, as I would anyway even without that issue. The way I see it is it’s still a much better set up than relying on a recirculating hood that doesn’t take the smells or grease outside at all. So the very minor condensation issue is a small price to pay. I was a bit obsessed with it when I posted on here but don’t give it too much thought now… until you posted and reminded me haha! I would suggest though if you have the option you may as well do what you can now while the dirty work is going on for peace of mind. Whatever your builder says there will defnitely be a little condensation whatever the set up, unless you have a really powerful fan or the extra fan on the chimney - its just physics and gravity that can’t be avoided. Either way you want to get it sorted now in my view rather than later as you probably won’t get round to it, as has been the case with us. That said, like I say it’s not a major issue if you have the same results as us. Only thing a few people have said is that over time it will cause the fan to fail but I haven’t noticed any problems yet so all good so far touch wood

Hi Jonathan, Thanks for all your advise, as usual , worth it's weight in gold I am usually at home only on the weekend and as my day job is rather hectic, combined with an L5 slipped disc, will restrict what I could do physically to help out. I would rather divide the refurbishment jobs into those which are like A) ‘destruction’ or just ripping things out. Versus those which need B) re-construction or as you mentioned, the finishes. I would also divide the available tradesmen into A) Those with no reviews, who can start work at a short notice and are cheaper and B) Those who are expensive, have a web presence/reviews and would take 1-2 months to start a job Using your timeline which you gave me in August, I would list the jobs in the following chronological order Jobs A) to be done by a builder who has no reviews and can be available at a short notice 1) Strip out the house. I would strip out carpets, skirting boards, wall cladding, partition by the stairs, kitchen, unwanted curtains, internal doors and architrave, the fire hearth, I will need a gas engineer too to disconnect the fire and hob. 2)-- Dispose of all the stuff, using 6/7 skips. 3)General builder to take down the wall between the dining room and kitchen. As it’s a non-weight wearing wall, I would persist with my cheaper builder A? 4) My dining room and kitchen ceilings will probably come down at this stage?? Again, persist with my cheaper builder A?. 5) heating engineer and electrician to start rewiring and central heating. —I have shortlisted a couple of electricians, who have excellent reviews and could start work in 2-4 weeks. 6)Consider TV/broadband/alarm at this time for a tidier result—Will have to contact Sky 7) replacement windows and internal doors, will give this to the established builder B- Hopefully by this time, it will be like 4 weeks down the line and he should be available to start work 8) external repairs such as roof tiles and gutters- Again builder B. 9)/ additional insulation to the loft- Builder B 10/ plaster boarding where necessary, coving, plastering. - ** Here I have a query, do I give this job to the good builder? Or try and outsource it to another plasterer? Is plastering more difficult or important than painting? 12/electrician - ceiling lights, second fix sockets. 13/ joiner- new doors, architrave, bannisters, skirtings. If wood floor skirting to be fitted after. 14/ decorator - emulsion ceilings and walls, woodwork primed and finished with eggshell, external decorating as necessary. My tradesmen would do this 15/ floors fitted, radiators hung 16/ kitchen installation Plan to get the raw materials/ design from Wren and then get an independent kitchen fitter to fit it. Unless the independent kitchen comes up with a better alternative. Have emailed a couple Builder B, or the established one, to do all the works as mentioned in the survey, plus the RSJ on the padstone and the conservatory, along with a new roof. I probably leave the plastering to him, including the doors, carpets and new floors Does this sound like a plan? to recap It would leave at least 20-30K worth of jobs to be done by the main builder B I could get some no- interest loan from Wren for their kitchen Use the builder A for stripping and ripping things out, Tradesmen such as electrician and heating to do individual jobs Any advise would be much appreciated Regards Mel ps regarding the conservatory roof, switching over from a glass to an all year round. Do I have to get building reg permission prior to starting work? How long does it usually take? Also, if the original roof is removed, would it not leave the building exposed to rain etc, until the new roof is installed?