Thank you all for the comments!! It's really helpful! After few days of thinking and rethinking, plus doing experiments in the space, I think we will go with this: I am aware that this leaves us with small kitchen, but more then anything I hate being in a space with too much heavy stuff. For two of us, plus extra couple here and there I think it could be enough if we avoid single purpose appliances. If we feel that we really do need more kitchen space, I will move table to center and add another line of elements (galley kitchen).

One thing you might want to consider too is the finish of the bench top. Even though dark colours absorb light if you have a shiny coating on your bench top it might give you that glare effect. We have a dark green laminated bench top. And we get a lot on sun in the morning and the bench top is quite resonates a lot of glare. Opt for a matt finish in a material that won't throw a lot of light back. I have attached a photo of our bench top to give you an idea of what I mean

Beautiful spacious kitchen with plenty of storage and style. Also love the hallway photo of your Reno.

Thank you. We love the fact that a room can still be modern but still demonstrate charm and character. The elaborate decorative finishes in this kitchen really highlights this fact.