what a beautiful house, I had a house which was the same period it was all white with timber floors which I loved but I now live in an 80's architect designed house which I love, bricks timber white and black. Your kitchen looks to be in good condition can it be painted and once we have dimensions you might get an island.

Thanks for replying oklouise & siruiskey.

I've not got dimensions on me, and now can see why it would be helpful. I feel a bit bad changing up the house so much but really just want to freshen it up.

Outside the kitchen window is the verandah (so just overlooking the garden) . i guess going by the below layout of the back of the house, the kitchen would be like 3.5m x 3 m approx?

I was thinking of removing the L shape of the bench but then wouldnt know where a dishwasher would be etc

Without knowing what the benchtop is , it may be able to be cut and joined -- in that case I would look and see if the breakfast bar part can be either moved a metre 'left' ( in the picture just above ) and then either keep the DW there , or under the new 'joiner' piece . Alternatively , if you got rid of the breakfast bar ( or spun it 90 degrees so it raan along the wall ) , and moved the DW under there , you MAY just be able to sneek a 1 metre or so wide island in there .

I assume you like the colour scheme , and don't want to change , but personally I find the darker grey ( especially the ceiling roses and the ceiling corniches ) is overdone . It may be an optical illusion , but the veranda doors and kitchen windows look lighter , obviously the dining chairs and even the kitchen bench are lighter again -- that darker grey just seems 'very old' to me , and not in a good way . I would have gone maybe 50% lighter , or even a rich yellowy English cream -- halfway between the wall tone and the gold . Nice but quite 'grey' in attitude at present IMO .

I also believe getting rid of breakfast bar. Continue storage along that wall. also range hood is very big and space either side could have had shelves maybe timber Great if could fit in small island parallel stove wall or some type of butcher block thing Area where micro could be better utilised

Thank you so much Susan.

pottsy99- thanks so much for the feedback! The dark grey is actually dark GREEN and i really dont like it at all. I really do want to change it all. I'd be open to some colour suggestions too! I'm considering whites, bronzes, lighter grays...but do want to highlight the ceiling roses and cornices :) im having a hard time deciding as the scheme is throughout the whole house and we want to paint before we move in :)

DW is easy just swing back next to the sink

As far as the ceiling roses go , I've attached a pic from my hall . That has been up for over 8 years ( the chandalier and the rose ) and I painted it white obviously at the time -- the centre dome piece is still loose because I was going to highlight the veins on the rose in gold ! Anyway , 8 years and at least 7 commercial property refreshes and at least 5 residential ones , and my own place still looks like this haha .

However , as you can probably see , the changing shadows and the 3D effect and the fact it is gold and sparkly means it is basically alright just in white ( well , that's my story ) .

As far as the corniches , that is difficult . Mine , as you can see , are 98 year old relatively plain ones ( although the plum walls lift it a bit ) . I sort of want to say do it in a Rich Red Maroon as a nod to the era , with gold highlights , but then you have a problem with the lower frieze , and potentially the kitchen too -- so maybe a light grey would be better ?

Thanks @User that's so helpful! I really appreciate you taking the time out to answer and attach a photo! I havent even thought about lighting yet and now i must start haha

Your lights ( both the hanging gold and frosted glass ones , and the downlights ) are fine IMO -- the problem is that dark grey haha , I mean drab green , it catches your eye and its not great . If you repainted them in maroon or burgundy or charcoal or gold they will still stand out for the wrong reasons .

My own ones ( there are 2 identical -- one at each end of the hall ) do need some subtle pinstripping in gold IMO , but I believe they should be just that -- subtle .

As a matter of interest , the dark green friezes around the walls above the gold , and at the top of the tiles -- is that water based , wooden , tiled ?

Maybe the drab green needs to just be the same colour as the ceiling hahah... i believe the dark green friezes are tiled. I really want to keep some character to the house so i think your suggestion of subtle pinstriping is fab! thank you :) @User

It’s exciting buying a house and planning changes. I’d suggest that you start making lists and plans to consolidate all the improvements you’d like to make. Any changes in a house are all linked - so an overall plan, even if you don’t do everything at once will give you a cohesive look and save money.

@bigreader great advice. thank you. That will be the plan!