Wow, so many brilliant ideas! Thank you everyone, I knew you'd come up with things I hadn't even thought of. The area around the washing machine is definitely going to need to be the priority. It looks awful and doesn't really serve any purpose. I like the idea of boxing in the 'utility area' into a cupboard, and will investigate this as a longer term option. In the meantime a curtain across next to the washing machine will be an inexpensive solution. I will contact the kitchen supplier and find out about integrated appliances and cupboard doors, and will also investigate the possibility of moving the washing machine to the other end of the kitchen, although unfortunately I don't think there is enough width to be able to do this whilst avoiding the bowl of the sink. Ultimately, I would like to move the washing machine into the garage and remove the worktop in that area, which might give us enough room for a small table and chairs. The current table and chair was loaned to us to see how much we used it and whether it works in the space that we have. The children don't use it for homework as I had hoped! I think I'm the only one who has used the table, and I've only used it a couple of times, so perhaps I could do without it altogether. E D - yes, you're correct. The breakfast set is no longer there, I just included the photo to give an idea of the seating that the previous owners had, and to give more of an idea of scale. Carolina - yes, I've opened the table out into a square and there was enough room to get around the kitchen still, but I don't think I'd want to use that much space for a permanent arrangement. I really like your idea of removing the top half of the dresser and retaining the storage at the bottom, with some pictures on the wall behind it. Although it looks like a lovely big kitchen, it really is limited in terms of cupboard space (either that, or I have way too much stuff)! Thank you again for all your ideas, it's helped to open my eyes to some more options that I would never have thought of. I will come back and update when we've decided what to do.

A thought might be to consider a dining area with banquet seating area diagonally opposite the kitchen. This could keep the dining area related to the kitchen and from intruding into the through way to the rear doors , and incorporate some storage -which is always useful. It could have chairs on the kitchen side and a rectangular table. A pendant light, or twin pendants, over the table would create an intimate dining area. The area nearer the double doors could then be an informal seating area.

The green does look nice, it seems a bit lighter in the photoshop although painted wood is generally lighter anyway. You could always test it directly as you’re painting anyway! Again personal opinion but I’d do the doors in the sams colour and would probably paint that internal door in either white to go with the tiles or the wall colour. Your photoshop skills are so much better than mine lol!

While black can be harsh, it is also quite modern. I don't hate the look of the image you posted below. You could always get fixtures to match to 'soften' it. I think if you only had black handles and the colour wasn't anywhere else it wouldn't go well but if it was integrated into the house, it would be fine.