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. : ))

OK, I normally do gardens, but here's my take..... You kitchen is very similar to ours, which we've lived with for a few years now. Based on our experience, I'd move the sink to be opposite the cooker, with dishwasher adjacent and a ready-use plate rack over/adjacent (most people use dishwashers these days, so having the food preparation area by the window is more meaningful). You might also want to think about swapping the sink and cooker sides, since the route for dirty plates is from the dining table to the peninsula, to the dishwasher/sink. The peninsula is too narrow - this is where everything gets "dumped", so more surface area, creeping round the corner, will be much more useful: also, instead of a rounded end, a square end with cutlery drawers etc. would fit with the route of flow from kitchen to table. Agree with Ash that moving the door to the utility would work better - clear route of flow from dining area to the door without going into the more confined kitchen space. If you have an american style fridge-freezer along the bottom wall, say, you might want a second, under-unit fridge near the food prep area, for things you use all the time (thus preserving the traditional "work triangle"). Oh, and make sure you have a little spice cupboard right next to the cooker!

TBH I would be reluctant to have a cupboard directly over the hob for this very reason. It's a real bugbear of mine, greasy cabinets and surfaces from cooking. I would also imagine that rising steam may also cause problems down the line. That said, we've just bought an Elica (being installed next week) for our new kitchen, because they have a good reputation (as far as I'm aware) and seem to perform well, but as for others I'm afraid I can't be of much help. I'm interested to hear of other people's experience with grease build up in your scenario, but I guess it also depends on what type of cooking do.

Chris, I think until you’ve experienced the type of water ingress caused by driving rain/wind then you’re always going to doubt that it can penetrate walls so “easily”. My experience was that I removed a one foot thick climbing plant from the rear of a 50’s built, cavity wall constructed, brick house approx 5 streets back from the seafront in Hampshire. The next time it rained the interior paintwork of the house changed colour from pale to dark grey as the water came through and me and my ex sat watching in absolute horror not knowing what to do. Luckily I’d left the trellis from the plant attached to the wall and managed to use that to fix damp proof membrane up and I wrapped the whole back of the house in DPM plastic until we figured out a permanent solution. Since then numerous people from my area have told me about the older style bricks used in the area that have little to no protection against the driven rain coming off the sea here. These bricks combined with cavity wall insulation filling the cavity were no match for rain that was being pushed sideways by the winds. Hope you get it sorted, water ingress is such a tiresome problem to solve (I’m now one street back from the seafront and have a dodgy roof that leaks when the strong wind pushes the rain back up under the slates 😂)