I have just cleared out an area under the house - a small room at the back of the garage that connects to the laundry/come storage room on the other side - a bit hard to explain the layout, but it works perfectly now as a second office/study area that I am using to gather and sort literature for further study. It has a large filing cabinet, desk, sorting table and lots of shelving for pre-sorting piles of literature which I have accumulated so effortlessly over the years! It comes with window views out to the garden and lovely water glimpses (if I open the garage door) and is lovely and cool in summer. While it is well organised and tidy, I have deliberately left it fairly rustic (read 'man cave' like) as I don't want to feel like I need to be 'cleaning and tidying' while I am there. I have a stack of classical and choral music that I play while down there ... in between listening to the cricket in summer, of course! Some great names in here re what to call it .... perhaps my 'She Nook' or 'the Reading Room'

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. Wuff, the handles were in the kitchen when we bought it. They have the exact handles in 'Early Settler'. We are changing the timber bench because we think it looks country and we want a change. The timber is very strong and durable. Very good quality but we simply don't like the colour. I was looking for someone to stain it darker and I would have kept it but can't find anyone. No water marks or had any issues with it. I we thought we would have to be careful with timber but it is honestly a good product. I would definitely recommend timber benches for anyone wanting that look :) good luck

Hi Laurel, I'm a huge fan of pressed tin! If you are going to use it in a kitchen I highly recommend getting it powder coated in the colour of your choice and properly installed (you can do it yourself) and then it's good to go, scratch proof, easy to wipe down and simply stunning. I don't have any pics of it where we've installed it as a splash back but we did use it to create a cover for our fully integrated dishwasher. This has been installed for over three years in our house with four boys (3 teenagers) and doesn't have a mark on it despite their grubby paws and rough handling.

Hi johnstoneanne , using Copper as a splashback gives you a couple of things to consider where what material you choose may also depend on the actual look you are after and considerations such as its maintenance, it being fit for your purpose plus that of your budget and to meet the regulations for this if you have a gas cooktop. There are a few ways you can go to achieve a copper splashback; starting with use of actual sheet copper laid onto a support substrate. This is a soft material that can scratch easily and will also oxidize and so you may like to consider applying a clear two-pack coating over this metal during fabrication. Another option would be to use a Laminate material that has an actual thin Copper face layer which also comes with a clear protective coating. You have already mentioned using a Copper tile as an option; where this will also have grout lines. Another option you may consider could be to use an easy to clean glass splashback and use a metallic copper finish backing or if you want an aged copper look, then you could alternatively use a copper photographic image that is printed onto the back of the glass splashback. A glass splashback would be easy to clean, scratch, heat and water resistant. There is also the possible option of using large sheet Porcelain splashback in a rusty copper colour if you are after a more matte finish; using something like perhaps Neolith’s Iron Copper or perhaps their Coreten, where these are heat & flame proof, water and scratch resistant and easy to clean & again eliminates Grout lines being a large format sheet. I hope this is of some help, regards Malcolm.