I remember years ago being in a similar predicament and someone gave me some mirror tiles - I glued them on the the wall and thought I was very clever. They actually did look much better in my eyes. Try not to spend too much - I think everyone's idea of a shower curtain will all the bathroom colours in it would probably be the best option. You'll laugh about it in years to come and you will love the improvements you make over time. Enjoy the moment, unless you're selling soon your ideas will change after living there, so change when you can afford it - who cares it's YOURS. Good luck, it's so rewarding and so much fun. P.S. now we have a small bathroom, wall to wall tiles, dark grey on the floor and white on all the walls with a large grey tile up each opposing wall, tall mirror over the handbasin which reflects the opposite wall then a full length bath with shower over it. It works perfectly and looks great.

I took no offense to your comments at all. I'm not swayed either, nor biased by the laminex group. I'd myself go with the lexicon 1/4 to get that perfect match to your interior, polar white is very Starck, like paper, and I beleive is still in the core range??? As for the tab top handles, they are probably what your calling finger pull, if so they will be mounted on the top side of the door and you just use a finger to pull out the lip and they are almost invisible. THe next best thing to a shadow line or finger grip detail. If this is the case, that's why the warranty is void! The joiner will need to shave mm off and slightly rebate this handle to close properly. Any cutting not a vinyl panel voids it's warranty, as it's like cutting open vacuum sealed salami and returning it for refund! Anyway they can avoid this by excluding this handle from offer, or anticipating its selection in the process before ordering doors, so they can reduce the door height by 10mm to accomodate etc, etc. I'm not sure why the warranty is less than the vinyl door than the painted ones, I think your referring to colour tech painted doors? There is also crystal gloss wi a polyurethane finish. Lastly, albedor and tesrol are Australian made vinyl doors, albedor has an extensive profile range of doors, one of the largest, a strong reputation and their service reps are well informed so specifiers always have a great relationship with them. Tesrol I like because they have great provincial accents or accessories like their capping moulds and elements to make a traditional kitchen quite grand a scale, usually only an optin for cashed up kitchens. They are based in NSW, but even in Melbourne, they always met our needs, although slitly dearer. And laminex doors, take the lead off both of those companies, and made here also. They have a very strict quality control, and although vinyl is not their primary product, they do well for service. There are many more worth mentioning, but I myself always ask the joiner who they order through, and ask for their vinyl brochure to select from. If they are not made in oz, then ask for another product, or another joiner. No sense in saving cost on a product which relies heavily on warranty guarantee, replacement and service will be met easier and quicker locally than imported, and more important, our strict standards are regulated to monitor the use of arsenic and formaldehyde, and is not adhered to in many imported door ranges.

Thanks for all the ideas siriuskey - I like being challenged with some left field ideas I hadn't thought of before. For colour schemes we're thinking of a white marble Caesar top with warm white laminate cabinets on the island, then charcoal laminate cabinets against the wall. For splashback we're thinking a high gloss white caesar. This is all just our initial thoughts and we'll probably get the colour consultant back to help us refine those plans and tell us where we've gone wrong :) With regards to getting the rangehood in over the island, I don't think I could swing the industrial look first idea, but the roof-mounted box to bring it down closer to the island top could work. Mounting some downlights into it as well should make lighting more effective too! I'm also warming to your idea of wrapping the cabinetry around onto the return wall and housing the ovens there. It does mean they're a fair hike away from the fridge, but it gives us a LOT more cooktop space which more than likely outweighs spreading the "triangle" out so far. So much to think about! I'm loving all of the ideas though :) I've been thinking of building some seating into the bay window (we've had a couch JAMMED into our bay in the lounge room and its a messy look) so maybe a banquette seat (never knew thats what they're called haha) would work. I just need it to sit relatively low-profile against the wall so that it doesn't make the gap between the seat and island too tight to get through.

Thanks everyone for all your feedback and tips. Below is the plan I have come up with. Not sure how clearly it will show up. Have wrestled with the position of the ovens and sink - thought about swapping them and about having them centred but then think there would be too far between fridge and cooktop/ovens. Cooktop is 600m gas, then two below bench 600mm electric ovens, 900mm rangehood. Sink is double drain, double sink (1550mm in all). I know this seems excessive and against trend but I could not live without my double drain as always defrosting meat, bottles of milk etc and like to have one clean side and one dirty side of the sink. I love the idea of a bi-fold door appliance cupboard for toaster, kettle, microwave but not sure how practical it really is. Will the doors when open be painful and stick out near the fridge???? Do like the idea of having all that stuff tucked away though. What do you think of dishwasher position? Think I will make that gap between island and bench with dishwasher 1300mm as suggested. The only drawers I'm planning on having are a bank of 3 x 3 800mm in the island. I know that are more economical space wise but trying to keep costs down. Should add that behind the L-shaped benches will be windows as much as possible. Looking forward to your feedback. Thanks greatly.