IKEA is great for anyone starting out, furnishing a rental property or just not sure what they want. It may not be the best "last for ever" quality, but it does the job, looks reasonable and can be mixed with other pieces over time. It tends to be good quality for the money. Tastes change over time and while my parents invested as much as they could in the furniture they bought, as they wanted it to last a lifetime, I prefer to think I will be able to change and update easily in the future. I spent a fortune on some furniture a few years ago, that I would love to replace now. We didn´t have a nearby IKEA at the time unfortunately.

WOW, what amazing ideas - who's up for forming an Interior Design Company around the UK - could be great fun! One thing not mentioned is that I would move the microwave immediately and put it where it has work surface at each side for safety. Where the micro was put a huge shallow glass brightly coloured bowl (TK Maxx/Ikea) and fill with either different coloured glass 'eggs' - Murano, Caithness etc, adding from each holiday or, which I've also done, fill with coloured crystal bauble string lights - I just drop them in and switch on when I feel like it. I've just bought a stunning Lava lamp - pink for my kitchen - tho' they come in a number of colours. There are some really funky fish tanks around too. I have a pink one shaped like a cats head ( lol as I have cats) and a square one, very architectural, with viewing 'shapes' cut out. They're no more then 6 inches high and some colourful fish prefer to be solo, or would you kill them along with the plants? Lol. Hope you manage to find great advice from all who answered you. Bee

My kitchen refit starts 3 weeks today but won't be finished until next year when I have decided on the splash backs. This has been a project 2 years in the making due to several builders agreeing to do the work only to never hear from them again & also some very poor service from kitchen shops. Finally I have a builder on board who will move a doorway to accommodate the new position for my fridge freezer and fit a Second Nature kitchen in elm that is to replace an old cream shaker one. Most of the appliances are staying as they are newish but for the first time I will have a dishwasher, a wall mounted oven so I can see what is cooking & a Franke under mounted corner sink which was a brand new ebay bargain. I am switching from gas to a white induction hob that will hopefully fit seamlessly into white quartz countertops. I am so excited, all this in a 2.6m x 2.8m kitchen. I have also asked the countertop peeps to smooth off an additional piece of quartz to fit the sink aperture so I can use that as additional work space. I am boring my boyfriend with endlessly searching for the best deals on things and trying my luck haggling which is not usually like me but lots of fun! Good luck everyone with your projects; I look forward to seeing the 'after' pictures. alant1000 - I love your new kitchen, it looks fab!

After waiting 2 weeks from January order of oak window sill, ledge shelves and flat shelves that arrived 4 months later, then another month for fitter to find half a day to fit us in... TOMORROW'S THE DAY. And we're ready. Might even get some 'after' photos on here.