Mary, it has been a while since I read the comments. I think you can take your time with growing with your new decluttered kitchen. It is truly beautiful with just the changes. Don't go spend a ton of money, save it and go on a holiday to a state park or something you have always wanted to do. If your friends that you invite over for dinner don't love ...... well just coming over and visiting,.... then oh well. As long as you are happy, but no need to break the bank..... you did great already. I love it, if you do more, please share though? And to bamamom, I so agree with you! My own, awful, claustrophobic kitchen is LESS than 8 ft x 11 ft... yep that tiny and horrible. I have taken out the nasty, dropped ceiling and have the slightly vaulted original one now, but with pipes showing where the HVAC was put in after and then the repiped ones....... I did not know they plumber would do this, much less the others were there.... gag me. And no money to do it up even decent.

The undercounter or stacked machines behind cabinetry sounds great. With the machines under the counter you create a generous work surface above for folding clean laundry or for kitchen tasks. The advantage of a sunny exposure for laundry is that you can more easily see potential stains to be treated and little rips to be mended. My washer and dryer are in my kitchen area. The noise is not so noticeable in the kitchen as it is in the room that backs onto the laundry machines. Coordinating the timing of the wash and dry helps reduce the noise intrusion while that other room is being used.

Where are you based? Would like to work on this project with you. Jade x

I hadn't spotted it was mahogany tbh when I first looked! I probably wouldn't go for a light wood with the mahogany, perhaps something medium in tone rather than mahogany just to balance out with the rest of the room? You could of course go for a different material for the console and add wood for accessories. For the bookcases I might actually paint them in the ŵall colour or the White otherwise they might overpower that area and the fire? Another option is to paint the actual fire surround. If you decided on blue for an accent colour for example you could paint it an Inky blue. It's quite hard to say without knowing what/if you'll bring colour to the rest of the room as you could end up with a living area dark in tone and everything else very light. The bookcases will also visually widen the living space so you may find you also need side tables for the sofa to balance it (or a chair angled in front of the bookcase if it fits) but perhaps see how it looks first before making any decisions! Art or mirror over the fire would work but I think art for colour/pattern.