This is a subject of great interest to me, because I hope to have the kitchen revamped later this year, when I get the money from the life insurance policy connected to the mortgage (I cleared the mortgage using my mother's legacy, so have earmarked the policy for home improvements). I am rather nervous about it all, as I don't have a microwave and don't particularly want to buy one just for the duration. But that's a good point made below about picking a season when I could live on cold food!

It's also interesting to be able to poke my nose into someone else's house, and I hope we will see photos of the final shiny new kitchen when it's ready. Is the downstairs toilet being abolished altogether or can you squeeze it in anywhere else on the ground floor? My joiner and I have been speculating this week about whether some of the peculiarities of the current kitchen sink are caused by the previous residents running the exit pipe into what he surmises was the exit for a toilet in the coal room (which the far end of the kitchen once was). I'm fairly sure the present downstairs toilet (under the stairs) was their work. The husband worked for a bathroom company, which may account for the number of basins around the house.