Love the choice of kitchen - shaker style! I have that style myself and I love it. An interior designer definitely will be able to help you with design and configuration, colour scheme etc. Just letting you know, we had to put 5 structural beams in our ceiling for support and the cost blew us away, it is a very expensive exercise. You'll need an engineer to draw these up. Your draftsman will know of an engineer. Also, as a rule you have to allow for budget blowout. Everyone who has ever done a renovation will tell you. Once you start on the journey, you're emotionally involved and you want it all to be right, and you always add on more changes as you go along. It might be worth pricing things from your kitchen to floorboards to fixtures and fittings, ovens, fridges, lighting choices etc and then draw up your own costings. Builders generally don't do costings, they allow a budget for certain things, like $5 a handle, but then if you choose a $7 handle, then you get hit with a bill at the end of the job with all the extra costs. Make sure you know what the builder has allowed for when it comes to the kitchen, fixtures and fittings etc. I also agree with the others, the oven is too tight in that spot. I would swap that with the sink and put the sink in the island. Hope this is helpful. Good luck with it all, it's very exciting!

Thanks interiorispirations. Sävedal fronts in the metod range. I did it very slowly but I think the demo took about four big days (the floor was four layers of lino, each glued on top of the last...steam was my friend) two days to build and install the cabinetry, two days to fit the plumbing and electrical, and a day to tile the splashback. Spent $4k at IKEA, all cabinets, sink, tap, benchtop, in cupboard and under bench lighting, internal drawers, corner carousel etc. $5k at Harvey Norman for appliances. $400 for splashback tiles.

Hi Kelvin, Beams like yours can work well with this type of Traditional Style Kitchen, such examples are these in a Hamptons Style / Shaker Style kitchens. If you like something with a less Traditional look, and you may like to consider your overall home's style and design; then you could also consider using a Scandinavian Style kitchen, which again will work in well with your natural timber beams. Best of luck with your renovation; enjoy the process. Regards Malcolm

Hi Sue. I think it depends a lot on how big and how light your kitchen is. Are the colours firm, or could you swap them, i.e. the white on the island with the wooden top, and the blue on the rest with white top? Try and picture the jarrah on all the tops, and work out whether you think it will be too much (if there is a lot of surface), or would work better as an accent. Best of luck.