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 :)

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. : ))

As Minnie says, not a fan of chalk paint on furniture, it has it's places, but for a washable surface with kids around it's a big No No. It has to be sealed and then it doesn't look like chalk paint anymore - and, quite frankly it's a load of old B*** that it sticks to almost any surface - almost being the operative word there. You can paint ikea units. Scratch the surface with a fine grade sandpaper 120 grit....then use a good quality water based primer - we use dulux. ( one coat should be enough with dulux ) Then buy a waterbased satinwood paint - also our preference is Dulux Diamond Trade..............you can pick your colour off any of their colour cards. You have great flat surfaces, so if it were me i'd roller the top coat on with small gloss rollers. You may need to do more than two coats but it will give a better finish than using a brush. Don't over load the roller, don't worry too much about the small air bubbles, they flatten out when it dries and kind of gel together. x

I have a few loose oak shelves around like this and I think they tend to look best without mastic. It can really just draw attention to the edges, whereas with a cut edge if looks crisp. A few strategically placed plants will help.