I would have your bench top supplier cut a thin batten of timber in the same 40mm thickness, and fix this as a front to a white melamine shelf. For a couple of reasons. Melamine is easiest to keep clean, whereas a varnish or oiled timber will require constant maintenance and resealing if it is used often, it will discolour and even with the sealant it does not like moisture, being natural, all timbers expand and contract in temp changes. Melamine is stable, and won't be seen from the viewpoint, and the timber front will make it look more substantial. Secondly, this thickness will be necessary to avoid shelf deflection, where lengths over 900mm will commonly sag under weight. Reinforcing your shelf with timber battens will avoid this, and the timber edge strip again hides it. If all this seems a little too hard, just invest in solid timber shelves of around 40mm, but have the tops laminated.

I would be more concerned with how those two cabinet colours work with your wall colour and concrete palate. I think one will be more favourable than the other if you can put samples together. Also keep in mind what lighting you'll be using. Since if you have cooler colours then 'cool white' 4000K lighting will look best, likewise if you have the warm Alabaster colour then 'warm white' 3000K would be best.

Different manufacturers have different track and sill details. You need to contact the manufacturer of your doors and get a drawing of the section of the sill and track, as well as ask their advice. I would be carefully considering how much water will reach the door frame when it pours with rain (how much protection does the eave offer). It also depends on the existing structure (if you are renovating) and exactly what you are cutting away to lower the door frame. You will run into issues if you have to cut out the edge of an existing slab. I suspect that it is not as simple as you hope otherwise it would be done all the time. So much potential for things to go expensively wrong if you don't plan it carefully to the millimetre. You can see in this photo it is not your standard track, and that a grate to drain water runs parallel to the door to minimise the risk of rain water being blown in. I wouldn't part with any cash until you have worked out all of the little details. It is a general rule of architecture that if something looks flush, clean and seamless then somebody has put a lot of thought into how to achieve that result, and the tradesmen involved have been much more careful, precise and taken their time to get it perfect. All of this costs money.... Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Hi again, thanks everyone for your input. I have been to a well known window/door manufacturer today which makes aluminium, timber and alu/timber composite to compare all options. It was a local company also so they were able to advise based on knowledge of our climate. The composite was higher in price but was also too contemporary in design, the aluminium was also too contemporary in design and not all options suitable for double-glazed glass, so we have returned to the idea of the solid timber but have taken all the advice on board and are opting for a pair of hinged french doors with sidelights in size to match and fanlights above so we can still retain the overall height and look but the actual doors will be closer to standard 2100mm height. Hopefully this will also eliminate any difficulty with opening them which we would probably have found had we had a bi-fold system or 2.7m door height. FYI the salesperson I spoke with also advised that there is a product available (sold in our local area from Inspirations Paint company) which when applied to the timber doors/windows gives 7 year protection from rot and fading due to rain and UV. He had used this himself on his own timber doors which were also exposed fully to the weather and highly recommended it - so I will post what this treatment is when I have more information on it. Thanks again everyone who helped out with their advice