Hello,

We have recently moved into a fairly new home. Unfortunately, we are discovering that the previous owners (who built the home) chose some of the finishes based on appearance rather than on quality or function.

Case in point, a kitchen with 11 1/2" deep upper cabinets that have no good place to put plates (we have our food storage & plastics in the corner cabinet and I'm short, so can't reach the cabinet above the stoves or fridge). The kitchen is also quite dark and busy, which is not our style at all.

This room has 10' ceilings. The wine rack feature was originally meant to be above a cooktop (I think), but that has been moved across the room to an area we can live with for now. The floor is copper coloured rubber tile which will stay for now, but we will bravely ignore it.

The lighter high wall is newly painted BM Wickham Grey HC-171, which is the main colour in the whole open plan area. The darker wall is a feature wall in the area, in Pratt & Lambert Blue Slate #25-21. The backsplash area will be painted Wickham Grey next week.

We want to make the kitchen more functional for our immediate needs, with the plan to do a full renovation in 5 years or so. All I can think of doing is to remove the cabinets from between the oven & the fridge, and replace them with uniform cabinets in a lighter colour. I've started an Ikea plan, and will get some pro advice before we order.

Looking for any other options and ideas for this temporary fix.

I have more photos and can add if they will help.