When Paula married Christian she moved into his large family home in County Meath. It was a beautiful old house but the kitchen was still back in the 70s. 'I've four small children so I knew the kitchen was going to be too small. It looked horrible! I wanted a bright, functional kitchen with an island unit, where the kids could sit on one side and watch me cooking. As it was, they pulled out drawers and stood on them to see what I was doing. It just wasn't safe.'

What also made them winners was that they had imagination! I never liked the idea of granite on the island unit because it's very cold when you lean on it.' They went to Discount Electric in Dublin because they've a broad range of appliances at really good prices. 'The main thing I wanted was a big cooker but as we're in the country we didn't want the hassle of bottled gas - we went for electric. I also didn't want glass doors on the cooker - I don't see the point. They always get dirty and greasy, no matter what you do, so the model I chose has solid ones.' Tanya came up with the idea of creating a surround for the fridge in the area of the chimney breast where the old Aga once stood. The microwave is stored in the large dresser and there are hidden features such as large pull out metal cutlery/pot drawers and a slini line metal pull out larder.

When Paula started looking for a new kitchen she had a painted one in mind until she learned it would be more expensive. She looked in loads of magazines and eventually came across a kitchen by Hogans Kitchens in Navan - she liked what she saw. 'Also they were local and I liked that, it's easier if there's any kind of comeback at a later date, if anything needs changed or something goes wrong.' Paula met Tanya, the designer, who suggested a stylish Maple kitchen that wouldn't date. Paula knew that if she had the urge for a painted kitchen years down the line, that the maple could be painted. Paula and her husband are both tall and the ceiling in the kitchen is remarkably high - four metres. Tanya provided designs for extra tall wall units to complement this feature. Paula chose blue pearl granite for the main worktop areas and Tanya recommended wood for the island unit. 'It was very much a collaboration.

Paula had some trouble at first finding the flooring, her husband Christian was particularly against slate or stone, not wanting the kids sitting on a cold hard floor. Eventually Paula chose a marmoleurn floor in rich earthy colours from Creative Flooring. She then selected one of the floor colours to match a paint shade for the walls. 'Tony Blake, the painter, gave me great advice as I first thought the colour I'd chosen wouldn't suit but he helped me a great deal. It looks great. I chose some special stainless steel light switches as an extra touch. I really wanted a long light to hang over the island unit - but again the height of the ceiling stopped that idea, so instead I'm going to get some spotlights to shine on to it.' With only a few extra touches to finish off, Paula and Christian have successfully rid themselves of their old 70s model and now have the perfect kitchen for the 21st century.