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 :)

Hi Jo, I understand your problem, I had a similar issue in the past and it was the cost of hiring professionals that was the problem and I had to get really creative to solve the issues! Listed building consent is free. You could apply for this yourself, if you actually needed it (planningportal). You could call your local council and speak with the officer about what you want to do and get their advice yourself without having to hire anyone. If this gorgeous place was my home, I would add some beautiful glass / french doors to the conservatory and keep them closed most of the time. Then in the conservatory dining room I would add some gorgeous conservatory blinds (including roof blinds) and or curtains and some great radiators (I really love the ACOVA ones, they blend traditional and modern really well and are really efficient) or use the plug in type to heat the space an hour before dinner. I would probably get insulating blinds and have fun with a colour scheme for all of the soft furnishings such as rugs and anything that will help keep the place feeling warm. I am not sure how large or young your family is, but if you were considering a rejig of the kitchen, adding a small bar area would suffice for breakfast and mean you only had to heat the conservatory on weekend lunches and at dinner times. I hope this gave you some more ideas! ... And some pics to get you inspired.... Have a great day and good luck! Jo

Thank-you very much for the comments. I hope it will be a great space, but playing around with it and changing the design at the last minute is getting a bit stressful! This is the design that the build company showed us initially - just their initial thought as it how it would look. I found feeling the area where they had positioned the fridge/freezer very tricky. We want a free-standing french larder style fridge and the doors and level of matching with the rest of the units didn't seem like a good fit. The support pillar for the steel that crosses the island in the attachment below has also been a real annoyance. It sticks out 23cm, so it can only really go through empty-ish cupboards. Clearly anything to the left of that steel is difficult to vent. On the design in my intitial post, I was intending to have a dropped ceiling element that stretched just beyond the steel. This would let me have a powerful extractor and exit the flew onto the flat room (hidden by the drop ceiling 'box'). I like the idea you describe of a full wall of units, then island, then table. I guess Jonathan's proposal is similar to that. While I love the efficiency of the "4 double door" hideaway I just don't like the aesthetic, so will need to think about something else. Bringing it back to what we need... Utility room: enough to stash the washing machine, store the vacuum cleaner and hang a few clothes. No need for a sink. Free Standing, 90cm wide fridge, nicely framed either by wall of kitchen units. Waist height oven with an additional "top oven / grill (broiler)" - so at least one full height column. Good size kitchen island with at least two seats. Approx 90cm induction hob, plus a gas domino hob. Powerful, externally venting extractor over hob. I'm relatively open to moving the kitchen/living area to wherever it works best. I'm also not desperate to have the hob on the island (but that would be nice). As far as I know, the builders haven't done anything that can't be easily adjusted at this stage - but I think that will change in a couple of days - and they are planning for the kitchen to be in the old part of the house. As for rooflights - I thought, perhaps wrongly, that it would be light enough with the big bifold doors. It is an east facing room, and the old room had some sliding paitio doors and it felt bright enough. So I have left roof lights out on the basis that - but I'm also concerned about noise. (Cheaper too!). The biggest window we can gave without incurring significantly more cost is 1800mm x 1000mm - I'm minded to be 2 or 3 of these in that middle section. Thanks!

What sort of look are you going for? If it were my kitchen I would repaint in a neutral throughout, cornforth white or similar. If the existing cupboard doors are white I would leave them (can't tell if white or cream in the photo) If they are cream I'd consider painting them either neutral or possibly a deep blue. Replace the handles with a cup style or a D pull in a metal to complement whichever metal accent you decide to have on the lighting. I'd replace the worktops with a high quality slim laminate, I have duropal calacatta and it often gets mistaken for real marble. I'd be tempted to have an upstand instead of tiles but possibly an antique mirror behind the range. If changing the worktop I'd get rid of the curved open shelves on the base run as I think this dates the kitchen. I'd keep the 12-pane door but paint it black and replace the handle with a black one to mimic a crittall door. I'd reduce the number of open shelves to one each side but take the one on the door wall full width to reach the adjoining wall. Replace the lighting - have a look at Matalan. They often have similar styles to Jim Lawrence. Have a look at DeVol kitchens for inspiration if you like that style.