Hi guys, Leelee we are definitely doing the vintage bits on the wall. We actually have some vintage cereal boxes that we are planning on displaying on the shelves (filled with cereal of course)!. Sarainitaly - I'm investigating thenIkea planner but it's painful to work (or maybe it's just me!). Here's a pic of the walls totally painted green now. Think the shelves will look great along with some pictures dotted around. It's the cabinets now that will b a pain! BTW it was pure enthusiasm that stopped me waiting until the water heater came off the wall to paint - lol. I will have to paint the patch when it's off.

Hi there, The manufacturer of the extraction fan should be able to guide you as to how far above the cooker it should be installed. This type of information is often featured on the manufacturer's website, or you could contact them directly for their technical specification sheet. Hope that helps. Best of luck with your project!

Hi Ed I was struck by the similarity with our new kitchen layout. We recently renovated and I absolutely did not want either an overhead extractor (because I wanted to raise the ceiling), but also did not want to cut expensive quartz for a pop-up extractor which all seem to give trouble eventually and basically don't work! The solution was a German-made Bora induction hob with the downdraft in the middle of the hob. I have to say that it was the best investment we made! Ours could not be ducted outside (which is always the best option) without losing too much efficiency so we went for a filtration system. It works even better than I thought removing all smells and grease! It was really well worth the money. ...and no ugly hood blocking the view out! Watch the videos on the website - it actually does work exactly like that! They also do different options where you have gas on one side and induction hob on the other with the extractor in a panel between the two. Definitely an investment! You really do need extraction though as Fiona said. Strong cooking smells will will be absorbed into your furniture and soft furnishings in an open plan area. The best of luck with your project. I hope you love the end result as much as we love ours.

I have an Elica nicolatesla hob/extractor coming and my builder has tunnel a 2.5 meter long tunnel with 110mm x 60mm diameter but I'm concerned this is too narrow after finding the manual online. It gives a a small amount of ducting which is 227 x 94 though there is a mention of using smaller for tunnelling, it offers accessories but the smallest diameter is 158 x 59mm. He said he phoned the distributor to ask what they recommended but I'm concerned performance or noise levels will be effected.