I think it is good to mix up the warm and cool colours. We have warm furniture too so its just the walls that are cool. I even have a beige/stone coloured curtain next to the grey wall and it looks so nice. Because this is an open plan room do you think those type of tiles will be too busy? I always go for plain things but i can see how something like that would look really good! This is one big room with lounge, dining, kitchen and french doors that open to a massive decking. I will post a pic of the whole thing when the final benchtop and tiles go on

Thanks for this!!! This design woukd be ideal but has a few hurdles. There is 400mm between sliding door & wall and the window sits 700mm off the floor. This large window is north facing and attracts the all the much needed sunshine, especially in winter (were in Tasmania). I don't know if turning it into a splashback window would a. loose the light/warmth b. cost a bomb to replace & re-brick

Hi Erin-hem, It maybe too late for changes if you have seen your kitchen designer but I would like to through you a couple of ideas for consideration. In my opinion, the sink area is always the messiest area of the kitchen. Why don't you put that on your new extended outside wall and even include a window for extra light if possible. Put the dishwasher on the left end of that pop out too so it doesn't create an unusable corner on the right side. Then build a 1200mm long wall, 600mm deep into the dining space so you can have a return unit from beside the dishwasher that connects with the island bench. This changes it from a true island bench but gives you the untidy part of the kitchen hidden but not closed off. The wall doesn't need to be full height but needs to be higher than the bench. It can be a joinery item rather than a builders item to match the joinery finishes. Behind the 1200 long wall/screen can be all your tea, coffee etc and your appliances on the bench so usable all the time but not seen from the dining and living area. It also hides the sink from view from the living area. Below bench level in this 1200 section you could actually have drawers for cutlery and crockery that go two way so you can load them from the dishwasher and take them out from the dining room side to lay the table. No need for a pantry with such a long back bench which could have loads of drawers as suggested by someone else. Keep the fridge nearest the stairs so everyone can access it and not come right into the kitchen. If you are a real foodie and love cooking for friends and family, put the hobb on the now free island side. If not, leave it where it is and the 'island bench' is now just a layout and work area and sit at bench. If you have the space, make the gap between the stairs and the bench ample. Say 1300mm wide at least. Cheers, Christine.

Hi Shebin Shukoor , If you need to close the kitchen, but also need the U shape kitchen, I suggest the rolling door above the bench top area. If there is bi-fold door runing on the bench top, it means that you have to clean up all items on the the bench top each time you just finish your work on it, for example having breakfast, if not, the bi-fold door will hit the cutlery sets by mistake and some of them may be broken. so I suggest the rolling instead.