Well done on your bathroom floor tiles. If your after the 'Hampton' look then you need to go with white cabinetry with marble tops. White will open up your kitchen area. If you decide to put in an island bench then you could go for a navy or black under bench cabinetry for a little contrast but white will never outdate. Good luck!!

I like it turned that way & yes I can see you like colour too! Nice! I'm confused about about the old dining room space, is it behind the shelves still? Is this using your 8 seater which I thought you wanted to be separate? This way though is a very practical use of space especially if you have room to move it to the right when required. You may want to consider whether the microwave is better in the kitchen triangle either under the island bench (bending down to use) or beside fridge above bench. Another way is to build up one end of the island to house it there just for the safe handling of hot dishes near to a serving bench.

@Relle Belle, I too am OCD about things being straight, even and balanced. We are building our home entirely ourselves and so when we were ready for the electrician, I had already drawn up a lighting plan. I made the sole decision ultimately where every light, fan, powerpoint, light switch and pendant was to go, as it's my home and I have to be forever happy with it but more importantly, when you are personally responsible for the position of every light etc... you start to make better decisions about where they should be and why!! I decided on evenly spacing my down lights with four in each bedroom and a fan in the centre but without a light, as I'm not fond of fans with lights, they tend to take away from the beauty and elegance of downlights. My lounge kitchen dining is one open plan, so I still have the downlights evenly spaced but simply have some lights set on seperate switches, so they have more of a purpose, as I have an open passageway running the full length of this open plan area, so I didn't need those lights on when I only want the lounge lights on for example. Again I have a fan in the centre of the lounge only and in the kitchen, the down lights weren't going to sit squarely over the island, something I couldn't live with, so I chose not to place them in that way at all and have decided on a central task light over the island and I have feature pendants over the dining table. All my lights line up in this large open area and look real good that way and I'm very happy with the changes but I can't stress enough that a simple lighting diagram can be all you need to get the look and feel you want long term. In the bedrooms I'm having pendants, so you have to either already know the size of the bed for each room or physically have the bed for each room as your pendant switch needs to be just past the edge of the bed but not too far away to be over reaching when already in bed to turn the light on or off. I also don't like the largish 100mm+ downlights and have chosen the smaller neater 90mm lights, makes the ceiling look less busy and with a ducted cooling system in the future I wanted to allow space for the ducting vent without having the ceiling overcrowded. If the fans bother you now, chances are they always will, so move them now!! There is really far more to consider than simply leaving the lighting plan to an electrician who often doesn't care a hoot if the lighting is adequate or ill positioned, unless you are lucky like me and have an electrician that does care, so if you want to make any changes whilst the wiring is going in, it's a piece of cake and don't let any electrician tell you otherwise!!!

Like the general layout of your kitchen,,,but I feel, as I do when anything resembling an island dominates a kitchen space, that the line of cupboards in your last photo with the wide island top, is intruding into the space and giving a feeling of cluttering...doesn't "flow", its like a baricade...and this feeling is repeated with your lovely modular lounge facing the TV. I feel I'd have the urge to throw myself over the back of the lounge so to sit and watch TV. I'm not really good at arranging already bought furniture in a new place so not the one to tell you what to do instead...but thought I'd give you my first impression on walking into your space. One thing I don't like for kitchens is islands of any kind. If I were confronted by that row of drawers and the solid looking island top...if it were mine...the first thing to be removed would be that...sorry I can't give detailed advise of what I'd have instead as that's a very useful work space, but it would be something more ..."open", maybe even something moveable that could be tucked away under a bench and pulled out when needed. I love your beautiful table and chairs...maybe move the table to that spce or maybe even have a second, lighter coloured, plainer, very stylish and unnusual but more casual table in that space...maybe even a substantial glass-topped table.? I'd have something that was both utilitarian, substantial and even ornamental.....for the feeling of 'lightness and non clutter"? Agree with bigreader......a rug under that lovely table would give it a lift.....maybe a dusty blue? If you like browns and nutty colours then dusty blues are a good "lift" colour. Also, think of blues for window dressings...whether curtains, blinds or even internal shutters. For curtains, See if you can find some of wide vertical striped fabric...preferably different pale blues....keep away from "greeny blues". Turquoise is a popular colour but I find that, for me, it drains the warmth out of a room no matter where it is used...and if you like browns and neutrals its not the shade of blue to put with them. See the blue you have on the side of your..."island"? Well, not as bright as that. Imagine it a couple of shades lighter and paler and dusty...like the blue of Wedgewood china...very sophisticated and is a good "all-rounder" - nothing much it does not complement...AND... Wedgewood is a "warm" blue. Many other shades of blue are naturally cool or cold and make one feel that way....good for beach houses though. In general I do not like blue, you won't find any in my house...(except where I thought it would appeal to buyers when I was going to sell up)... so this is a completely unbiased opinion piece. That's about the limit of my inspiration for your place tcmaim....Your table was my starting point. Not too many like the dark brown furniture...I LOVE it! Wedgewood blue and chocolate brown....YUM! For other colours I see off white or even a patterned creamy hue with dusty Wedgewood blues........and I'd have that colour on the kitchen floor too! Maybe unnusual and not very "en trend" but I think it would really work well in your kitchen.. maybe even as a splashback if you did the floor..and those little "In ceiling" lights would, in my view, look really nice and cosy up th whole area. The tall cupboard near the doorway.....for my liking it needs to be taken to ceiling height...as it is it gives the feeling of a flat pack piece that did not quite fill the gap. LR