Hello Amanda, : )) Do you mean in the kitchen? Yes a nice idea. I like flat plate too, but really plain. Well the best way to describe how I feel about certain alterations is to tell you about someone I knew who "did up" her flat to such a degree that she literally took away all that was characterful about it.. Sometimes it's best to leave things as their patina develops over time and results in something quite special. Restoration is one thing but you can also restore the life out of something and thus diminish in certain contexts the value- and so it's good to know when to stop.. So yes, I'm firmly in the camp suggesting leave them, but of course it's entirely your choice. : ))

Ikea Kitchens are excellent, the attention to quality is superb. Lots of suppliers only offer doors in particular sizes, which is why when you go to an appointment at Wickes for example and you then take it to Howdens, they often have to swap the cabinets around as they don't all do all the sizes. Factoring in that you may want to change the doors in a few years at this point is in my opinion daft. You buy a kitchen and it should last 10-15 years. Magnet and Howdens offer great kitchens too. However, I have personal experience of fitting an Ikea Kitchen last year and was very impressed. I've used Howdens several times too. There are many companies however, that offer custom sizes when ordering replacements such as Kitchen door workshop and Kitchen Door Outlet to name but two. Saying that you can't replace the doors, just simply isn't accurate.

Thanks for your advice both of you. We live in England to answer your question Gabby. Is there a rule in Scotland that the aisles have to be 120cm and if so why ? Jonathan, I was kind of thinking we would want to use the island for eating meals on like we do now with our current kitchen table, but I guess if the DR is open to the kitchen then it wouldn't be a problem to take a few steps more to the dining room table (because we use it so infrequently at the moment I am finding that hard to visualise). I am going to post a better plan of our current kitchen and dining room (with the pantry taken out) and I am also going to post a photo looking out from the window in our dining room. I am wondering if we did turn the DR into our kitchen could we make the window ledge higher and put the units in an L-shape so we could put the sink in the window? (and still have space for an island) I know this goes against some of my earlier points, especially about being worried people would be able to look in at us/and would create a more goldfish bowl feeling but I am just playing around with ideas.

Although it's great to be able to support local companies, sometimes budgets don't stretch to that! (At least in our experience.) For our last three projects, we've used Howden's as they have come out at the best price. My husband is in the trade, so we can deal with them directly. October they normally have a big sale and they can offer price match for like-for-like kitchens. We have had no issues with the quality and with the deals they can be great value for money. If your neighbour can purchase directly with them, that will make life easier and you can benefit from the discounts especially during their big October sale. They also offer a design service and will work directly with you. I don't believe they charge for this design service. I personally have only had positive experiences with them, but we have always designed our kitchens using online planners and sent them over to them to price up. In the event the wrong item was sent, replacements always came quickly. Some of the stores have started their October sale early! We are just about to purchase our 4th kitchen from them. :)