An L shaped design sounds fine to me and I think it's practicality will outweigh concerns about it dominating. I agree a soft white is nicer in an older property and a more modern look than gloss but I don't agree that a painted finish is better with young ones as it can chip- I would look for a laminate door which despite being perceived to be lower quality will likely stand up to rough treatment

Thanks for the comments. Ellie the garden is at the back of the bathroom, but remodelling now isn't an option. When I say 'remodelling' I really mean knocking down the bathroom which is the old outhouse and extending/rebuilding, and we just don't have the budget for it at the moment. I envisage that when it is finally done, the bathroom will be smaller and we'll have another living space at the back of the house. At the moment with just my husband and I it would be an office or a dining room, but I suspect in 5 years time a playroom will be the bigger priority! Lisa Glad you agree re cooker placement. Agree that this is the cheapest option, but it doesn't solve my table problem - this is only sorted if I can put the fridge somewhere with the rest of the units. We've probably got £8-10k to spend on this now so I'd rather get it done how I like in one go. As far as I can see, the problem with using the space under the stairs for a table is that no-one will be able to sit at the table directly under the stairs on one side because it's so low, so we have some wasted space with table that no-one can use and the table has to come far further into the room for there to be space for 4 people to sit.

Hello Izzy, A 6.6m kitchen-lounge-diner is a great space to get creative in! I've worked on enough extensions to understand your questions about zoning and flows. I offer a very popular space planning service showing the ideal zone layout and furniture arrangement of a space, in 3D, from the point of view of an interior designer. Everything is to scale; therefore you'll get a clear idea of zone and furniture sizes and positions and decisions will come easy. I'd like to invite you to look at an example shown on my services page: www.londonfatcat.com/services  I wish you all the best with your refresh! Warm regards, Faten from Londonfatcat Interiors

Hi Jonathan, thank you for your reply, budget isnt a problem, the back door doesnt need to be on the same side of the front door and happy to see ideas regarding the doors to the lounge, thank you!