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 :)

Am pretty sure that if I was a kitchen designer I wouldn't spend hours working out the cost of a kitchen that likely won't fit. However I have met several who could tell you if the budget you have in mind is enough to fill the space and perhaps direct you to some of the cabinet and worktop choices in your budget so that you can start to get excited about eventually planning your kitchen. It might even be possible for the company you choose to visit the house to measure with the current owners permission. What area are you in? Perhaps people could offer recommendations for kitchen studios?

Hi Dominic, Although I would say it's not ideal to have a door opening onto the island, 1.4 is a good distance. It's nice to have an unbroken pathway from the door through if you can. Of course, this isn't always possible. How far are your units from the island? If you have draws they don't pull out as far as a cupboard door so you can look around 1-1.1m meters. This also makes it easier to turn without taking a step which is handy when taking things out the oven etc If you bring them a little closer, could the island finish in-line with the door so it's not opening onto the island ( without knowing the current distance... this might not be possible). Could you shift the opening a little closer to the bathroom door? Or what about having no door and just the opening?

Hi, We are in the latter stages of a house project and want to hang the light in the photo but it needs to attach to the underside of a pitched roof. How can this be achieved? I don’t believe the manufacture has an adapter, so looking for suggestions please! The top is 50cm in diameter. Thanks in advance!