One thing I love about the graphite cabinet color I want to use is that it is a stain - not paint. The stain is on maple (can also do cherry) cabinets so you still pick up some flecks of the natural wood color in the stain - which I think would draw in the light stain hardwood floors! I'm looking at Marsh Kitchen Savannah 1 cabinets in graphite - made in NC!! I am attaching a picture. This pic is actually the cherry cabinet because the photo is actually much more like the maple, graphite-stained cabinet as it looks in person. The pic of the maple one looks kinda cheap - doesn't do it justice.

How funny. I just renovated (on a budget) my small kitchen and added exactly the slate look in tiles you have, though they are in fact porcelain. And I placed them throughout the house for continuity. The tiler asked if I was after a retro hippy look but it doesn't look like that at all. My cupboards were the same colour as yours and I utilised the bones of the kitchen and had the doors and Benchtops changed only. I also have plenty of light in the kitchen but chose white doors and as I was on a budget I chose granite look Benchtops, they are very serviceable and it looks great. The blue backsplash was the colour lift and here you could choose any colour to your liking. Basically the kitchen ended up with white cupboards and appliances other than cooktop, with the stainless cooktop and coloured splash back being the focal point. The paint colour are: whisper white walls, integra splashback, white ceiling and for increased contrast I used the same white above the splashback on the rear wall. I would consider painting out the brick but leaving the texture.

Hi everyone, thanks for your comments. Kate, I think you'll find it will be great with the kids. A friend has kids and a couple of dogs running around on hers and it looks great - very sturdy. I do agree the step definitely needs redoing. I'm going to walk him around the house and point out anything I think doesn't look professional. And I do agree, mistakes can happen and as long as they are rectified I can accept that. The guy we're dealing with is part owner of the business and was a layer for 10 years before going into the sales side. He has offered to come and do the fix up himself so I'm happy with that. Re the colour, I originally thought that we'd end up with a timber shade of some sort, but the house is small and I like the white washed, light beige look of the Ashland. I'll be interested to see what you choose. Very exciting times ahead, lots of work but it will be lovely to have a new house! Best of luck, Trish

What natural light do you get in the room/what orientation? i.e. is it a 'cold' or 'warm' room? If it's a colder room, I'd go with a grey with orange/red undertones to warm it up a bit, or if it's a warm room you could get away with a cooler grey, maybe green undertones to compliment the maroon. Or you could even try a green rather than grey. The Aerobus is a blueish grey so will be cooler. As others have said you would probably want a lighter tone than this for the walls (unless you're purposely going for a dark dramatic mood). 'Miller Mood' is a couple of shades up in the Colour Atlas. Get sample pots and paint a section on each wall, or paint a white bit of card and stick to the wall to see how the light is at different times of day.