We have been inundated with requests for help on rooms across the globe for my newest feature on the blog entitled Style Surgery. Thank you guys, regrettably we can only work on one a week but if you want something speedier and more in depth there is always our E-Decorating Service! To kick start this feature meet Kylie she lives (in Australia) in an ex corner store built in the 1920's. This is what she emailed:
"We have replaced the bench tops and tiled with white subway tiles (which we are planning to continue up the wall) but this little intervention has done nothing (or nearly nothing) to improve things (a bit like plastering really cheap concealor all over a pimple!) The major problem is the cabinetry. It is Tasmanian Oak and has to stay (apart from the fact that we really can't afford a new kitchen, it is just too good to demolish and add to landfill - it would've cost a bomb in its day and it doesn't feel right to us to rip it out and replace it with cabinetry of inferior quality for which we would still have to shell out big bucks)Painting is the obvious choice, but choosing a colour is the big dilemma. My heart is saying paint them a dark charcoal-ish colour, but my head is saying play it safe and paint them white. BUT,  everywhere I look I see white kitchens similar to the style of ours and I think blah/boring - they look just the same as they started out, but white. And what's the point of that? The dark kitchens I see are much more modern than ours, so I'm wondering if dark cabinetry would look good on an 80's number or just silly and try-hard..and whether I'll regret going over to the dark side. (I'm not frightened of dark colours - we have a dark grey and almost black exterior, and a lovely dark blackish brown grown-ups t.v. room which I love)".
Here are my tips below the game changer being to replace the cupboard doors on the wall hung units, elongating them to look more bespoke. Then I've suggested replacing the hardware, painting out the kitchen and adding some open shelving.
Some product ideas below:
