How about moving a fridge to where a pantry is per you idea, then make the rest of the right hand side cabinet a full height cabinet all the way in, and move oven and microwave to this right hand side wall. You should have a bit more storage space. For a sink, you can opt for one big single bowl either a 500 or a 700. I have had one 700 bowl for a few weeks and really like its functionality over two bowls sink of similar footprint. Keeping breaky area is nice, perhaps free up the space below like in the above comment is a good compromise for visual aspect. you could also opt for a glass top to make it a bit less intrusive.

From the photos you have provided, it looks like your kitchen space is quite cosy. To accommodate a island bench you mentioned before we would suggest a corner kitchen, keeping your pantry within the corner however making it built in with your cabinetry in the photo posted below. (Photo a idea for cabinet layout, different materials and style in accordance with your design). To make you design flow, next to your corner pantry we would suggest your appliances are built in to the cabinetry with the fridge against the far right wall. This would then provide a whole bench top with overhead cabinetry which could feature a splash back to your liking that would blend with your terracotta tiles. Within the island bench we would suggest you have your sink and a integrated dishwasher to maximise space within the kitchen when cooking. This may not fit in with your budget, however if you would like a free quote to provide a estimate of cost please feel free to call us on 03 423 9067, if you would like to see some of out work feel free to visit out profile on Houzz. We hope this helps :) Example of layout with in built corner pantry. Example of overhead cabinetry with tiled detail to match terracotta features you mentioned. Island bench example, make one side functional with integrated dishwasher and bins with sink, and the other a dining option to merge with the kitchen, however this would depend on measurements within your kitchen space.

annb1997 - I’m not sure if I was clear. The microwave and the fridge are currently side by side. Currently the fridge is to the left and the microwave to the right. I was asking about swapping them around - ie the fridge to the right and microwave to the left. Reason was to create better access for the fridge as it’s further from the island bench. The APP cupboard near the external stacker doors is just a normal full height cupboard - it was supposed to be the appliance cupboard but decided on a normal cupboard. Must update the plan to reflect this.

oklouise. Thanks so much for that drawing. It's similar to what we were thinking but leave the fridge where it is with some cabinets overhead, and put a small pantry by the wall oven/microwave. My husband is not keen on extending the wall if it's not totally necessary - the house is quite small and dark. We recently removed a wall between the kitchen and living room to open it up, which has made such a difference. He doesn't want to "compartmentalize" (sp) again. The 2700mm island gets some counter space closer to the fridge too. We were thinking of putting 50cm cabinetry under that window so as to allow max light in. Thanks also for the tip on putting the cooktop close to opening doors, we never would have thought of that. Any thoughts on putting the gas cooktop in the island? It's been suggested but I'm not sure. I'll get some measurements of the whole area this afternoon.