I would suggest you take out the cabinet that is to the right of the stove and use it elsewhere in the house -- perhaps in the bathroom or dining room with a hutch above it. Then, I would suggest you have someone install a lazy susan cabinet in the corner between the sink counter and the stove, meaning you would move the stove down a bit and have a small cabinet/counter top to the right of the stove. I would suggest you have the cabinets refinished in white and then paint the walls a pastel you like. If you would prefer white walls, then add white-painted crown molding and paint the ceiling a light neutral blue, such as Sherwin Williams Niagara Falls Blue. Then, I would suggest you choose a favorite accent color and use this sparingly in accessories like towels, pot holders, small vases or floral arrangements, and a valence above the triple windows. For a genuine 1940s look, you might have white ceramic square tiles with a rectangular red border installed as a back splash behind and above the stove. If you are replacing counter tops, I would suggest a light color such as white with a beige or light grey vein or striation for some sort of pattern. You might be able to find the same color and design in floor tile OR opt for a wood floor as another poster suggested.

Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!

We have a 900x900 shower and it's plenty big enough. Neither of your proposed layouts looks that great, to be perfectly honest, sorry! In the first layout, you could improve it quite a lot by swapping the toilet and vanity (centre the toilet under the window on the bottom right of the picture if possible), and having the shower door on the other wall (beside the door). Then, you could have a towel rail on the wall beside the door (i.e. behind the door when it's open), which would be accessible from the shower but hidden when the door was open. An 800x1200 shower might be a good size for your space. You'd have to choose a toilet that doesn't protrude too far, plus a narrow vanity. With that layout, you could have a long but narrow wall-hung vanity, with a big mirror covering the wall between the windows, which would make the room feel bigger and would give a good amount of storage. Also, you may find this helpful: http://www.houseplanshelper.com/small-bathroom-floor-plans.html?utm_content=buffer4aa20&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Hi everyone, I'm planing to make my grandma a surprise and do a makeover to her apartment. I'm facing multiple issues. I'm overseas and in her area can't find any architects/designers on Houzz, so I'll need to find inspiration and when I'm going on holiday in few months organise with a local contractor. One other issue, it's an old communist type of apartment, with heaps of walls and small rooms, which I'd prefer to keep this way, otherwise I'll need to involve engineers and so on. I'm thinking to do mainly bath and kitchen (apartment layout 4-kitchen; 7-bath), the rooms are fine, maybe some new fresh coat of paint. For kitchen I'm thinking to put a barn style door, they seem to be in fashion and will save some space. One issue here, kitchen will need to have some sort of eating area as well, maybe a small collapsable table I was thinking, although, it will make it harder for her. There's concrete floor, which I'm planning to keep as it is, maybe put some clear epoxy or repolish it, with some white cabinets? What are you guys thinking? Bathroom wise, I'll need some advice on the bath tub area. At this moment, there's a nice iron tub with cast iron legs, I believe that with bit of love and new paint it will look nice, or remove it completely and put a walk in shower with nice glass wall? Thinking of having vintage tiles laid and some white tiles on walls, maybe similar to subway ones, or square? Probably will go with a lot of white stuff as there's no natural light coming through. Thanks in advance for your input!