You need a good finish carpenter. Such craftsmen are harder to find than the big box stores. Also check for lead paint which may be a challenge. There are ways to sand and smooth old drawers then rub runners with a candle, wax paper or soap bar to help them slide. There may be hardware pull outs or lazy susans that could help problem cabinets function better. A rope of led lights above cabinet and under cabinet lights would bright the area. A backsplash of tin ceiling or light beadboard would bounce the light more. There is paintable wall paper for both of those too. Beadboard plywood could also be a ceiling option. I would paint cabinets a creamy white or very pale green or buttercream yellow. then pick a midtone neutral counter top. Pulling up old vinyl and refinishing wood would be beautiful but time consuming. laying new vinyl right over the old could work well especially if the flood might be too uneven for ceramic tile. A small bakers rack and kitchen cart could add some storage and work space. Lots of possibilities but lots of work

@auntthelma, funny that you suggest that as that is exactly what our neighbours have done. But they had an extra room to play with so only went down to a 4 bedroom from a 5. @thinkdesignlive we have blackout curtains currently on the windows in the dining room and yes, we have tiles in most on the house except bedrooms and lounge room. Which we will have to replace after remodelling, I’m not a fan of them anyway as we live in a place that gets very cold in the winters. We have looked at getting retractable external blinds but due to the window shape they weren’t he solution. We are looking at adding a pergola to that area as from the window closest to the external door all the way to the laundry is a deck. Ceiling height is 2.4m. We know this will cost a pretty penny so looking at design solutions to find our ‘best guess’ budget. And no, the room @ci_names are not what we use them for, ‘lounge’ is currently a toy/games room. Family is where the tv is and the room we use the most. And room 4 is technically our study. I can post some photos tomorrow. But this is not a show house by any means so please forgive me :) @muma goose, thank you for those ideas. I hadn’t thought off adding a ‘window’ in if we blocked off that entry. Has added to the design ideas pile. That last design we have added is similar to how we use the room currently. I have a big IKEA cupboard with cake tins, appliances and the glassware display with a coffee station where you have the ‘p’ great minds :D we will change the sink to just a smaller single sink as well which will give us more bench space as well. I did want to move the oven from under bench to wall but I’m not sure what will work either. @ci_lantro we have seriously looked at the option of removing the bay windows, so that is not off the cards either. But as with everything the cost of things would be our kryptonite. What an amazing group of people you are to respond :D

Hi HU- I don't know anything about refinishing granite to give it a totally different appearance. The person to ask about everything countertops is Joseph Corlett, LLC here on Houzz. Why not invite him onto this thread? I personally don't like that speckly type of granite, it reminds me of "work" because it is present in so many office buildings. But if you like your granite, keep it. It's your house! And it's a fortune of money to replace it, besides! If you were going to replace it anyway, you could think about using a stone with swirls or some sort of movement, but one that is lighter overall. Or go the other way, and use a very dark counter such as a soapstone, or a soapstone look-alike (and you could decide how much veining you want) and paint the walls a very very light gray in the kitchen. (Soapstone even comes in green!) Or you could even think about Corian. Which now comes in a dazzling array of colors and a very affordable price point. Joe is a Pro, and really sings the praises of Corian which is versatile and lasts forever and can be repaired in ways natural stone can't. As for the flooring, I would have the kitchen match the rest of your house. What you already have down looks just perfect. If you are really wanting to spend money on something, I would eliminate the space at the top of your upper cabinets. Either make simple cabinets for things like trays, etc. or put up a crown molding to the ceiling. The space looks odd and is a huge dust catcher. I would not paint the island, the wood is too perfect. You can add color to the kitchen with a floor mat, dishcloths, accessories, etc.

Cork is an excellent carpet replacement product. It is warm and quiet underfoot. It comes in two formats: A floating click-together format for 'dry' areas and a glue down tile for wet areas such as bathrooms and mud rooms. Yep...you heard me. The glue down cork tile is 100% water proof. As in MORE water proof than vinyl click together products. How? The glue down cork tiles are butted together (no grout lines) when installed. They are then coated x2 with water based polyurethane. The poly seals the seams to create a continuous sheet of cork. The only areas of concern (as with ALL floors in a bathroom) would be at the walls where cork meets drywall. I'm a cork flooring expert. I've done this more times than I can count. A situation like yours were you do NOT want to refinish the entire house because two rooms had issues. Cork is an oak. It has many of the same colour tones as White and Red oak. In fact it starts out quite orange (sigh...ignore that phase of it's life...it doesn't last very long) but soon calms down to a lovely soft yellow which is IDENTICAL to the current laminates you have. Here's how I would do it: I would pick a floating floor that has an IDENTICAL glue down tile option. I would install the floating floor in the bedroom. This gives you the 'total' floor height that you need to match. Now you remove the bathroom flooring and lay in new plywood OR cement backer board (cork doesn't care) to raise the floor up. Now you glue down the cork tile (6mm or 8mm) so that it matches the existing floating floor. Finish the floor in two coats of polyurethane and Voila! A continuous floor with minimal effort. A glue down tile floor (if you hire this part out) is going to cost (labour plus materials) the same as a porcelain tile installation. That's roughly $12-$15/sf. Sounds horrible until you realize you have 30sf to cover...now that's not too bad! A floating cork floor will cost (roughly) the same as a HIGH END vinyl floor installation ($4-$5/sf for materials + $3/sf for labour). www.icorkfloor.com Cork Flooring Tiles Glue Down - Forna Silver Birch 6mm Flooring (icorkfloor.com) Floating Cork Floor - 12mm Forna Floating Cork Flooring (icorkfloor.com) Those are just and example of how to get a continuous floor in two different formats of cork.