Hi Barry, I personally don't think the large blank space lends itself to a piece of art. It's up too high and contrary to your thoughts, it wouldn't be the feature you'd hope for it to be. Besides, the money you spend on a piece large enough, would be better spent on a smaller, higher quality piece mounted at the correct height (eye-level) that would compliment another part of your home. Getting back to the blank space, have you considered using a timber veneer for the wall cabinets? Something that would work with your bench, and then you could use the same veneer as wall panels to continue above the blank space over the cupboards. Perhaps you could even incorporate led strip lighting to give it a little more wow factor. Timber is great because it adds a layer of warmth to the polished concrete and dark cabinets. Good luck, and keep us posted! Would love to see which way you go. Cheers, and have a great weekend. Steve

We have glass/stainless & timber handrail on our timber house & are very happy with the look. Sorry I don't have a close up...

Playing devil's advocate, a dark charcoal may look too stark against the light brick. There's lots of great softer greys with a hint of olive (stay with me here!) that would look great and not look too stark or too cold against the pale bricks. Something like Dulux Woodland Grey or even something more olivey. Defintiely do a couple of tests, even if it's just ordering a couple of brushout sheets ($2 each I think) from Dulux etc. It'll look so fresh!

Hi Ann thanks for commenting I've just re read my post and surprised you were able to make any sense of it! I've attached some photos of our current flooring. First photo is entry and second is the stairs going down into living area and the living area floor. so I suppose looking at it on photo it doesn't really matter that they don't match. Guess my actual question is what varnish colour to do the carpeted stairs and should it match upstairs flooring (whixh we are yet to do) or entry flooring?