I would suggest a flokati rug it would give the space warmth and texture :)

I would get in there to enliven up the space without taking away from the clean lines. You don't do that by repeating more of the same. You make the rest of the kitchen, with all its weight and clean lines play into something not the same. I would suggest you look at a gold leaf look ( ie with a little texture in it. Obviously not actual gold leaf) and put the most vibrant magenta pink/red that you dare in a horizontal line about 2 inches wide and going the full length of the area. Just very well executed paint. Make it above your average pot size so it does not disappear behind pots and pans. That way every time you will look at that place in your home and think Oh Yeah! Also, if you would rather .... make the coloured line turquoise.

Not going with black kickboards, but will be doing black smeg - have seen a similar kitchen & it looks great.

With those colours , I think you'd be better to go with a charcoal tile ( and a door mat to counter the heat ) . The garage front looks really nice , as does the garage door , and the charcoal on the upstairs . I'm not a big fan of the bricks , but they are what they are , and it looks like charcoal windowsills and 'tops' around the top . The upstairs is in an off-white or maybe even getting a bit of a steel blue tinge ( I can't quite ascertain , because it appears to be shaded , so I can't quite make out the tone ) , and I personally think that is the 'weakest' part of the build . To go light ( basically , it already is ) would look quite 'meh' IMO , and while I can understand the logic of having the wooden overlay in cedar stain to tie everything together , I personally don't think it goes well with that pattern brick , whereas a charcoal tile would .