oh sorry, when I referred to the white section I was thinking of the zincworks, it looks great along side the moose, but more so with the new basmati, because the zincworks is quite grey, whereas the moose alongside the white truffle- the moose has a brown undertone . the zincworks visual texture has a grain direction, perhaps you can have your cabinetmaker have the moose all vertical, while all the cabinets in zincworks could go horizontal. In your case the back cabinets and overheads, including the base island units. If you do agree to do the back bench in Moose, this will only be more impressive with the zincworks drawers below it. These two decors were actually the ones selected for the silk kitchen featured on the brochure, where you can clearly see how well they team up, they are closer together than you would think. If you don't go with the timber accent, use the moose in its place.. except the bar-back panel under the island, go with Zincworks there if timber is not an option, because it will stand out against the moose tall box at the sink end of the island. I am new to Houzz OZ too, we all are, but I'm a fan of the US site. You're welcome, I get my rewards when I start renovating...Q&As from me too :)

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in replying! So many thoughtful suggestions, thank you. I haven't yet got around to taping out the kitchen, boundsgreener, but I hope too soon. Even just pacing it out has made me realise you're all right, there's no way a G shape will work. The space at the sink surrounded by the benches would be less than one metre. So that's good to realise now! I can't do banquet seating as there's a window behind the table. The wall behind the buffet unit is structural so we can't remove it (and I'd imagine it might get expensive too!) So what I'm thinking now is more a revamp/update with the current layout, but still moving the fridge across and creating a pantry, plus an appliances garage (love that term!) in the corner. Oven, sink and dishwasher in the same spots. This will still give more room for dining as the fridge won't be taking up space on that side of the kitchen. I'm now worried about losing the bench space that the buffet unit gives us, though. It was going to be offset by the extra G shape, but as that's gone and there won't be any room for the buffet (though I'd love to keep it as an island on wheels, hazzaran!) there will be less bench space than before. I like the idea about a wooden benchtop to save money, Pazz, but is it practical? Won't it get lots of bacteria in it? I'd still love some natural stone in there somewhere, and was thinking of those beautiful hexagon marble tiles they have on the Block. That might be cheaper than a caesarstone benchtop! I am not a big fan of laminate, though, for some reason it always really looks really plasticy to me. Thanks again for all your great advice and for helping avert a layout disaster! I really appreciate all the advice.

in order to avoid compromising the original style i suggest investing in a cabinetmaker to rebuild the existing cabinets by removing only the front panels of the voids and all the random doors, rebuild the spaces with new full height cabinets on either side of the panel backing the vanity and installing new tall cabinets (same height as fridge space) with adjustable internal shelves, including a dedicated shelf for a suitably sized microwave (and a coffee maker and/or mixer etc) with power points and then adding full height white doors to match the kitchen cabinets..the original doors being used for internal shelves) The panel on the left of the fridge appears to conceal a support column so that needs to be retained, the panel on the back of the vanity and the wall to the ceiling also retains the veneer....my very poor pictures attempt to display before and after but in order to highlight the shapes i needed to use wrong colours and hope you see the idea...unfortunately custom cabinetry won't be cheap but anything less wouldn't be precise enough

In my early twenties I designed kitchens for my mother and two aunts (Uncle built them and they worked), but when it came to designing my own - had to fit a constrained space and no possibility of extension - I chewed my lips for ages - like Nicole, I drew and measured ad infinitum, and used graph book walls, views etc. I did one extra thing - which I think worked - I listed all that I wanted to store, and tried to analyse how I liked working in the kitchen. Some things I had to settle for because of space (such as a smaller dishwasher) but most of it has worked. We have a corner pantry, which I (and the cat, husband a bit larger) can walk into, but have not put small appliances in there - they sit in a large drawer beneath the main working bench, which also works well. It all looks good to me Nicole and thinking carefully about needs and how things work in advance usually results in something you'll be happy with. Good luck!