Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in replying! So many thoughtful suggestions, thank you. I haven't yet got around to taping out the kitchen, boundsgreener, but I hope too soon. Even just pacing it out has made me realise you're all right, there's no way a G shape will work. The space at the sink surrounded by the benches would be less than one metre. So that's good to realise now! I can't do banquet seating as there's a window behind the table. The wall behind the buffet unit is structural so we can't remove it (and I'd imagine it might get expensive too!) So what I'm thinking now is more a revamp/update with the current layout, but still moving the fridge across and creating a pantry, plus an appliances garage (love that term!) in the corner. Oven, sink and dishwasher in the same spots. This will still give more room for dining as the fridge won't be taking up space on that side of the kitchen. I'm now worried about losing the bench space that the buffet unit gives us, though. It was going to be offset by the extra G shape, but as that's gone and there won't be any room for the buffet (though I'd love to keep it as an island on wheels, hazzaran!) there will be less bench space than before. I like the idea about a wooden benchtop to save money, Pazz, but is it practical? Won't it get lots of bacteria in it? I'd still love some natural stone in there somewhere, and was thinking of those beautiful hexagon marble tiles they have on the Block. That might be cheaper than a caesarstone benchtop! I am not a big fan of laminate, though, for some reason it always really looks really plasticy to me. Thanks again for all your great advice and for helping avert a layout disaster! I really appreciate all the advice.

@girlie, Very lovely but do you have a design dilemma or just showing it off ha-ha Cheers, Barbara

Also love the buffet....it could be the "hero" of the room. It is beautiful and they are so hard to come by at a reasonable price. I have a much cheaper style mid century buffet and initially had the TV on top of it, but now the TV is wall mounted above it. The distance between the wall and the couch wall is about 4m and we have no issues with the TV being too high...you definitely need to factor that in if you wall mount it though...luckily I had a handyman friend helping me, otherwise I would have put the TV too high. With the TV being mounted, it actually makes the buffet more of a feature and anything that is put on the buffet is now "displayed" instead of being part of clutter with the TV. It looks great and I know yours will too if you wall mount the TV. That is the great thing about the mid century buffets...they seem to fit in just as well as modern furniture as they do with the classic furniture....and because your is "classic", it will never date...a great investment.

Your mockup scheme is similar to our master bathroom we just completed - photo below. I know you mentioned storage being a concern - our mirrored cabinet has offered an amazing amount of storage in a very small space and also helps bounce light around. I was worried about black taps etc too so we kept chrome fixtures but added in a matte black candle and black potted orchid to create a similar effect which we can change out later on. Our floor tiles are dark but because they are semi-polished they actually bounce around a lot of light and don't make the room feel dark if that is a concern. We also have a huge fiddle leaf fig in the corner (not pictured) which adds a really nice feel to the space - a plant like that could help bring in the outside greenery in your bathroom. Instead of the storage tower you have to the left of the vanity could you do say some floating wood shelving, possibly with baskets added for more hidden storage? You could also bring in the 60s theme with what you displayed on there eg. photos as you mentioned? In regards to the window - a previous house we lived in had a window at about shoulder height in the shower - as well as letting in heaps of light it was amazing for storing toiletries etc!