That will look great! Having your wall cabinets on the lowest part of the ceiling will make your kitchen look bigger due to the smaller bulkheads, and having a well pronounced island bench with feature island range-hood/pendulum lights will ensure as much attention as possible is kept off the raked ceiling.

Hi there, I agree with a lot of the suggestions above. Consider the textures, colours and finishes of your furnishings and artwork and think of the pendants as an opportunity to reiterate some of these. So for instance, if you have some black metal in the coffee table legs, you may bring in some of that in the kitchen pendants and look for say glass pendants with black fixtures. Coloured pendants are fun but they can date a lot quicker - bring in colour in the room through artwork, cushions and accessories.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me with their comments. I’m attaching some more photos in the hope that one of you who can use creative technology will be able to help me visualise where I’m headed. I have taken on board the comments about not creating a hazard but would still like to see what this would look like: A narrow gap between the pantry wall and the end of the bench (about 400 - 500mm) big enough to create the island look but not big enough to tempt walking through. The ‘step’ built up to cover the plumbing and then covered with dark concrete tile. Then this tile to come out through the living area incorporating the support post up to the sliding doors as a feature contrast to the timber. Can anyone create that image? I haven’t bought my tiles yet, or I would just lay them down and look at it. But I have a picture of them that I could upload. Also, as you can see, I pulled out an old fashioned room divider so I’m fairly sure I have the depth to lay the tile so that it will be flush with the existing flooring. Thanks in anticipation. Jane

Your choice of pendants are gorgeous but would keep as a cluster at end of bench doorway side, strip lighting could look fabulous or even one beautiful pendant would look stunning.