I am just finishing off a kitchen myself, and am going with a layout similar to the one on the left, but we are actually putting legs on it, my husband likes the idea of the extra support for the stone (even though you have to reinforce underneath to get as much of a "jut out" as your picture shows") but it also will hopefully reduce the risk of children running into the corners! I also think it is nice to be able to sit at the end of bench and not have your back to the rest of the room. Good luck!

I spent ages figuring out the lay out of our kitchen and am really happy with the result (four months in). We put the sink on the back wall, under a window and love looking out. Make sure there is a bin drawer next to the sink. Ours goes bin, sink, dishwasher, drawers, stove, drawers, oven stack. I think the passages in your kitchen area are a bit narrow. We have 1300mm between the benchtop edges. People can then pass each other easily and it doesn't matter if the drawers or dishwasher is open. The island then has drawers holding the plates and cutlery. You can unload the dishwasher straight into the opposite drawers which the kids love. You have two lots of corner cupboards in the pantry and might be better off with one straight line as I don't believe you gain much more and it will feel more spacious. Consider leaving a space on the kitchen side of the island so you can sit too. I hate standing while entertaining and everyone else is sitting at the island! Hope that helps.

I repaired our bathroom doors which seem to made of particleboard, the bottoms had got wet from the showers & were quite swollen. I got a very small 'stanley' knife with the break off blades, new, so it's sharp. I held my finger on the blade & carefully sliced off the swollen parts, work slowly, then painted it with Bondcrete - paint all the flaky parts with the bondcrete (it dries very hard). Let it dry completely, overnight, next day carefully sand with a med to fine sandpaper until smooth, don't rush. I would then either stain the damaged part with matching stain or paint with a varnish stain to match, finish with a clear coat if necessary. Give the whole back a coat of clear varnish - I would use oil based not water based varnish. I would also suggest you paint the interior with clear varnish - especially the back panel - 2 coats. For the small damaged parts on the top apply stain & varnish with a very small paint brush, like an artists brush.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me with their comments. I’m attaching some more photos in the hope that one of you who can use creative technology will be able to help me visualise where I’m headed. I have taken on board the comments about not creating a hazard but would still like to see what this would look like: A narrow gap between the pantry wall and the end of the bench (about 400 - 500mm) big enough to create the island look but not big enough to tempt walking through. The ‘step’ built up to cover the plumbing and then covered with dark concrete tile. Then this tile to come out through the living area incorporating the support post up to the sliding doors as a feature contrast to the timber. Can anyone create that image? I haven’t bought my tiles yet, or I would just lay them down and look at it. But I have a picture of them that I could upload. Also, as you can see, I pulled out an old fashioned room divider so I’m fairly sure I have the depth to lay the tile so that it will be flush with the existing flooring. Thanks in anticipation. Jane