Lets play a game... what do you think is the biggest issue?

foxandflowers

In this kitchen?!

Because I have absolutely no clue where to start.

tacpot12

Water leak in the ceiling. You need to make sure that the leak is completely cured. I'd also recommend a water leak alarm in the area where the leak occured. 

foxandflowers

@tacpot12 - the kitchen is directly below the upstairs bathroom, so I suspect (although I don't know for definite yet as we are still six weeks away from moving in) that this is something to do with the leak markings. 

Bonus points for this absolute horror show is that this is the current oven. 

FreeBear

Aside from the water stains on the ceiling, I'd be looking at the condensate drain on the boiler and the location of the flue in relation to the opening window - if the condensate pipe goes thorugh the wall, it should be ~30mm on the outside or you run the risk of it blocking up with ice during the winter. The flue needs to be 300mm or more from any window that can be opened.

The kitchen units appear to be custom made out of solid wood - They should last you a long time. But the work surface, [redacted comment]. Have a look at fitting a decent worktop to suit your personal taste. And get rid of that electric hob, You can get an induction hob from B&Q for about £180, and once you've used one, you'll never want to use any other type.

Have a look to see which direction the joists run in the ceiling, and install some ducting along with a decent extractor over the hob.

foxandflowers

Hi @FreeBear - thanks for the advice about the boiler! Here is a photo of the back of the house - the kitchen is the bottom right window. All my windows will need replacing as the double glazing has blown, and the bottom left is still single glazed, as the gentleman who owned the property previously had planned on installing a conservatory, but was taken ill before he could.




I'm planning on knocking through the wall adjoining the dining room, and creating a larger space, because this feels tiny to me, and then adding french doors where the single glazed windows are now. I have a kitchen that is only about 8 years old in the house I'm selling with an induction hob, and I love it. So much easier to use and keep clean x

FreeBear

foxandflowers said: I'm planning on knocking through the wall adjoining the dining room, and creating a larger space,

Get the advice of a structural engineer before knocking down walls. Don't trust the opinion of a builder - They are not qualified !

If the wall is studwork, don't assume that it is not structural. You may find that the wall is buttressing the external wall and supporting floors/walls above. This may mean you can't take all of the wall down and a steel beam needs to be inserted.

And don't forget to get Building Control to sign off on the work - It will make things much easier if/when you come to sell.

Postik

Looks like the brass knobs could do with a polish

Simonon77

The red toaster ! totally clashes with everything else there.

I bet if you wait 5 years though those cabinets and tiles will be back in fashion, and everyone will be ripping out their white marble and granite and repainting the grey walls ( shaker style cabinets are already coming back in ! ).

foxandflowers

@Simonon77 - once we knock through, I want herringbone wood floors, and a cow print sofa installed... along with some neon pink lights, and a black and white shaker kitchen. So I'm probably not a white and grey kind of person, BUT it is a bit of a shame that the solid wood won't be staying forever, because it's been there about 50 years. 

@Postik I wish that was all that was needed. Although I'm not sure why there are brass dutch-style windmills stuck on to most of the upper cupboard doors? 

shinytop

The dishes need doing but apart from that it looks fine. 

Seriously, you could probably fix that up and make it look good for not much money.  What's the floor like?

twopenny

Those cupboard doors are quite trendy again. They just need sorting out somehow.

For a quick fix (goodness knows I'm doing the same) paint ceiling, walls and  tiles white, helps the boiler blend in.

New worktop something plain and a funky blind or two.

New kitchen mixer tap?