Hello
I have some pics on my profile of our kitchen, dining and family room.
The kitchen is dark as it has no windows. We recently had the bifold doors fitted replacing the awful thick plastic framed French doors which has improved the light somewhat. But the 'space' just feels a bit bland.
S what could we do, without anything major to improve upon it.
In the corner, to the left of the doors there is a cupboard that houses the boiler. To the right of the sofa is an under stairs cupboard whis is full of just stuff.
We have 2 dc, age 5 and 3, and I'd love to make the area warm and cosy and welcoming. DD is now at the stage where she is starting to ask for play dates so how can I feel proud of our house. It's all so practical at the moment that it feels just Meh to me.
The kitchen is now in what was the garage, and we were restricted o the layout by mains pipes coming into the house. I would have loved an island or breakfast bar bu this wasn't possible. If we have people over, always tend to be in the kitchen with my back to everyone, which I hate.
One idea I'm toying with is whether I could put a breakfast bar next o the fridge on the left, sticking out into the middle. The width between the units is about 160 cm. would this work?
What else would you do to improve it all? I don't think DP will go for reprinting the walls so it has to be changed with accessories.
Also, our table is broken and needs replacing. I think it is too big so am looking at a smaller extendable one. I quite like the idea of a round one, but would that work? I'm looking at the round Bjursta or the Liatorp from IKEA.
Many thanks in advance.
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Help me 'style' my kitchen diner family room please.
mumat39 · 05/12/2012 11:58
Hello everyone.
Just thought I'd post and update to say thank you to you all for your help and also to wish you all a lovely Christmas. 
I had an appointment with an in store home design person at john Lewis last week and she was brilliant. I explained that I found it difficult to accessorise the room and also to brighten it up. We looked at cushions and oil cloths and she explained how t try and add colour to 'tie the room together'. She also ordered some oil cloth samples for me. These arrived a couple of days ago. What she helped with was so obvious, now I know, but I couldn't get past the not being able to get things to work head, if that makes sense.
Anyway, I got a pale blue, sort of duck egg colour PVC table cloth and a duck egg throw from JL and the difference is amazing. The room just looks brighter. I also doped the shop your home thing again and found that some of the cushions I already have actually work well with the throw too. So for about £40 the room looks so much better and with the tablecloth we can now fix the table without worrying how it will affect how it looks, so that will save us the cost of another table. It still feels too big, but somehow doesn't look as big. I don't understand how that's possible by adding a bright tablecloth, but it does.
So thank you lovely ladies for your collective wisdom and ideas. It was such a simple fix and the colour is one of my favourites. It's not a perfect match with the tiles which are maybe slightly more aqua but it's definitely an improvement and it feels more cheerful. I feel a bit more with it now in terms of how to maybe accessorise the kitchen with some bright jars like the ones linked o up thread. I'm also thinking of maybe covering the chair seat bits with some brighter fabric as it's currently a brown suedette material.
I really hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and thank you all so so much for your advice, pointers and suggestions. 
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