I have used a glass splash in the last 2houses we have built (my husband is a builder!) and I really recommend them above using the same as the bench top. I think you would find the contrast much easier to work with than the busyness of the granite pattern. I would look at choosing the darker colour from the granite as the glass splash back and consider one that has a metallic look too it. I have used the metallic look in a charcoal grey and it went so well with the sink and the stainless steel cooktop and the fridge....loads of compliments on how it allowed the granite to be the hero. There are some great options in colours and you can actually choose your colour from a paint chart and have it done that way. Best wishes would love to see the completed kitchen.

Thank you @Creative Style Interior Design and @bigreader @Creativelychallenged - Thank you for your nice words. We are indeed very happy with the result. We also went through all these stages you describe, so don't feel depressed... there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Our research stage was so long and quite discouraging at times. We've always wanted to live in a queenslander, but our house is not one. This didn't stop us on going ahead adding some character to our bathrooms design (and kitchen). We started with the idea of making these bathrooms with a colonial touch but we found that it was not easy to find the elements we wanted (tiles, furniture, tapware) at a cost that would fit our budget. We learned that the type of tiles we liked (encaustic) were VERY expensive ($200+), traditional looking furniture was also very expensive... So we shifted to a more modern design...(not very happily though), and after a while of collecting ideas for modern tiles, furniture etc.. we felt quite depressed because we were compromising... updating our bathrooms with something fresher, but far, far away from what we really liked. In our view modern furniture looked very plain, streamlined and... boring, but we were doing 2 bathrooms (on a budget) so we were not prepared to spend a fortune, and we settled with modern. We ordered marble type tiles for the floor 900x600, and wood like tiles for the walls, and booked the builder to start demolition. Luckily for us National tiles called us saying that there was an error and the tiles they promised were not going to be available for 3 more months!!! Depressed again.... It took us so long to find something we liked (kinda) and now we were back to square one. Then my lovely wife said... Why don't we give it another go and try to make a more traditional design as we originally wanted.... So to make it short... we went back online with 'refreshed' energy and pressure (demolition already started) and found many things I coudn't find before: Floor tiles @ $25/m2 Subway tiles for walls @$16 the box on sale... Ensuite furniture and basin from Ikea Main bathroom furniture was an antique dresser we found in an op shop for $150 repainted and repurposed.... etc... In the end we spent approx $12,5K for both bathrooms in total :-) So, to summarise... don't dispair... just look in this website, on pinterest, magazines, google, etc... Play around with ideas and copy!... (you'll see that our ensuite is quite similar to the first photo in this discussion)... Good luck! :-)

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

I think the layout is a great use of the space. It flows, there's room to move and everything is accessible. Think about replacing the cupboard next to the dishwasher with drawers. Drawers give a lot more usable storage area that is easily accessible. You could put in a blind corner cupboard as well (Bunnings have them). Pull out bins under the sink eliminate the need to have a bin in a corner somewhere (Bunnings have those too). Some open shelving on the wall to the right of the sink near the arch would be handy and would look lovely. It doesn't need to cost a fortune either. Don't be scared to get quotes. We've just recently had 15 quotes for the kitchen we're renovating and the price varied by $15K. Totally worth the run around to get extra quotes. We also picked up some great tips and advice along the way. We are paying a builder who does renovations and extensions to do it for us. He can get things so much cheaper at trade price than we could. He is also managing the tiler and painter as he uses guys that work with him all the time. We have decided to get a flat packed kitchen that is pre-cut. The builder is putting it together and making the timber counter tops for us at less than half the price of the kitchen places. We chose the tiles and he ordered them at a better price. Same for the sink, taps, handles etc. We have saved thousands of dollars doing it this way and he manages the entire thing for us. Added: I rang the builder. He said that if your budget is really tight, consider getting a Kaboodle kitchen and have a builder install it for you. He recommended not to order the Kaboodle hardware (hinges, drawer runners etc) as it's not the best quality and a builder can order others. The handles would be fine though. It would make it way cheaper for you and you would still get a decent quality kitchen.