It depends on many things, but also are within these guidelines. A splash back provides a surface which is to be impervious to water, therefore not allow water to absorb, and depending on your state, the regulations directly behind a water point including a tap or outlet is to be minimum 200mm high, and for heat and fire ratings, the area behind a cooktop needs to be 600mm minimum from your bench top is you have an electric cooktop, and 650mm for gas, with the splash back to extend 200mm either side of the heat source either side. So even if you want to only do this, there will need to be quite a bit of splash back, and often people use things like the bench top, window position and overhead cupboards to contain the splash back, providing you a rough idea of where to start and end one. Although not technically required, even in areas without services, a splash back that changes height and doesn't continue around walls to neatly finish off the surface will look out of place, so for consistency, the splash back is best used to effect, and provides an opportunity to incorporate a colour or interesting surface to the kitchen. By no means should a splash back be an after thought or put in simply in response to the minimum regulations. If you have a layout of your kitchen, start where your overhead cupboards are and draw a line around the entire room (even through windows and openings) to see it complete each wall that is part of the kitchen. Meaning any wall that has a bench top attached. Tis is a good place to start. Hope this helps.

It sounds good to me. I would just double check that 3m of space will be enough to plant the trees you want and still provide a passageway by that side of the house. I like the way that "wood" was incorporated in the picture you originally posted (i.e. under the bench). Or you could do the whole island in timber, like this: [https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kitchen-contemporary-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~85701[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kitchen-contemporary-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~85701) [https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kitchen-contemporary-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~85704[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kitchen-contemporary-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~85704) A timber bench for the island only, like this: [https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/pavilion-house-contemporary-kitchen-sydney-phvw-vp~11003779[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/pavilion-house-contemporary-kitchen-sydney-phvw-vp~11003779) Add a timber light over the bench, like this: [https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/northcote-house-contemporary-kitchen-melbourne-phvw-vp~11773106[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/northcote-house-contemporary-kitchen-melbourne-phvw-vp~11773106) Or add some timber shelving at one end of the island bench, like this: [https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kalymna-grove-modern-kitchen-melbourne-phvw-vp~4501573[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kalymna-grove-modern-kitchen-melbourne-phvw-vp~4501573)

Hi Bronwen. I'm sorry to hear your sad news. Here is a link to the colour choices on the Laminex site: http://www.laminex.com.au/products.php#!/splashbacks/metaline-splashbacks-and-panels/ . There are 23 colours in total. I'm pretty sure we chose the Palladium Perle (see 2nd set/page). We obtained samples from the Laminex showroom in our nearby country town (see Locator on website) and ordered it through our kitchen installer. If you don't have a Laminex showroom near you, you can order brochures and samples on 1800 002 204 in Australia (per their website). If you are installing it yourselves, you would have to ask them how to obtain it but you do need to add extra insulation on the panel behind the stovetop.

Hi Rach163 So the splashback is along the wall behind the stove? And is full height to the ceiling? No overhead cabinets there? Certainly for an all-white kitchen, and a very small wood-element on the table, I'd suggest a feature colour splashback. There's a few ways you could make it pop - a colour such as a rich red, or a striking (but not bright) green, or even a blue would work well. We used colour-backed glass for our splashback in our all-white (but dark benchtop) kitchen, which is low maintenance and looks very "rich". It's a red (burgundy?) feature "wall" below overhead cabinets on two sides of our mostly L-shaped kitchen, and we also put it under the island bench/table, to tie the two together. The other idea that struck me is that you have a view to the outside (albeit a covered courtyard dining area now?). That made me think of a mirror to reflect the view, or at least the light - so something like a polished stainless steel. Perhaps in sections or strips with brushed steel, to reduce maintenance :-) For the lighting, we used an led strip under our overhead cabinets, either side of the range-hood, and around the corner to where our sink is. You could do something similar with a narrow aluminium channel either at the ceiling (probably too high) or at range-hood level with an led strip (a waterproof one!) inside it. It's nearly invisible when not on, just a crisp brushed/polished metal line, but gives a really bright uniform light across the whole bench area, and no shading issues with the main room lights behind you. If you wanted real wow, get a multi-colour led strip that can be colour changed (and be dimmed) to suit your needs and moods. And if you wanted to freak people out, you can get a multi-colour programmable led strip that can also do things like active lightwaves, pulsing and respond to music and a bunch of other things :-) All of the strips are dirt cheap, unless you buy them through most Australian lighting stores :-/ We also put a dimmer led strip underneath our island benchtop, to pick up the splashback/underbench colour, and as a nice 'night-light' of an evening. Works really nicely. I've seen some people do it at the kickboard level (i.e. 140mm above the floor), to make it look like everything is floating, but I've found that only works for some kitchens. One of the benefits of controllable coloured led lighting can be that the splashback can also be white or silver, and it's the lighting that determines the perceived colour. Leds are quite directional though, great for benches but less for wider room lighting, unless you have them in a diffuser. We use led lightbulbs in four high ceiling fixtures, and one long-drop over-dining-bench light, since they are lovely and bright and warm (if chosen that way), and as the ambient light source. You can also get colour/controllable led lightbulbs but $$$. You want to think about where you want feature lighting (up or down), work lighting and ambient lighting. Think about where you will stand to work, and which lights you will be shading, which will be shining in your face, and which will actually help. We pushed around our lighting points on the design, and even over-catered on the number of fixtures, just in case we missed something. You can always disconnect a light and cover it trivially, but putting one in later or shifting one is a bit messy. Anyway, my two bits. :-) Cheers, Markus