Hello Marcelle, I am an interior designer . I can tell you a simple inexpensive way to change the look of your kitchen. Looking at the photo you sent the different cabinet heights , and all the objects on the stove wall are very busy . Your modern house is wanting a cleaner , simple look. I would lower the small cabinets so that the top is at the same height as the others in the room. And put doors on , that will hide the clutter. Next I would do a tile backsplash above the stove , up to the same height. The whole kitchen will be pulled together by the continuous top line. There is a small light wood cabinet with baskets in the foreground . I would paint it white , or the same dark accent color of the cabinets you have. I don't think you would need to change the beams then , they would add interest and drama once everything else was subdued. Lisa

Despite previous opinions I have to say this - DON'T GET DOWN LIGHTS!!!! We had them in our previous home. They were constantly blowing no matter what kind of bulb used. The casings kept breaking. This meant we couldn't just change the bulb ourselves. It drove me mental. They spotlight certain parts of a room instead of lighting the whole room so when one of our main "culprits" kept blowing in the kitchen, I had no lighting above that bench until we could get an electrician in. More than one electrician told us they are a serious fire hazard. I will never have them again!

From what you've told me, that sounds like a solid way to patch your roof. How did it go?

I'm about to take the plunge and re-paint the lounge. It is long, narrow, with high curved ceiling. In plan shape it's like a slice of cake :-). I hope the pic shows it well enough. I'm standing at the other end of the room, which is basically 5m of stacker doors to the deck/archgola. The colour is Dulux Brick Red. I've been agonising over colour - I'm after a coastal vibe. I'd like to maybe wallpaper the short wall with the Island Lady triptych on it, to give some interest and contrast. I'm thinking Resene Robin's Egg Blue, with the end walls Resene Inside Back. I've been playing with a free design programme and I've run out of brain space! Would love to hear any comments, advice from other Houzzers please!