A dark quartz countertop could give you great contrast if you plan on keeping the lower cabinets. Quartz is one of the most durable, can take a hot pot, doesn't scar and requires minimal care. (All other stone types have limitations and require extra work.) Daytime photos would give a better idea of what you have in the way of upper cabinets and light fixtures, how much light you get. Also, need some comment on your decorating style -- modern/cottage/traditional, etc. -- and color preferences. What rooms does this kitchen connect to? In the meantime, look into replacing the cabinet doors. These look somewhat 70s, and you may enjoy a wood or a color. There are a lot of companies that specialize in refacing cabinets. Some glass doors might be interesting. Search houzz for kitchens you like; that will help you focus on what changes you want to make and will help us make suggestions.

Just to confirm I have taken the great ideas presented here as advice only and have no intention to do some dodgy diy reno's. With the exception of a couple of quirky exposed timbers as you can see in my pictures there are no other exposed beams. As you can also see from the pictures there is a large roof space on the right (east) side of the house but the ceilings themselves are flat with a slight dip on the north wall. Based on my own personal experiences I would have to agree with Two's Company that there is a tendency towards rendered brick in WA (although there are still many exposed brick houses in my suburb) while double enclosed double garages are also highly desirable. I would also agree that toilets within the main bathroom and non traditional laundries may be considered unusual by many (but not all). Ensuites with toilets however are still very common. Also due to the nature of our work we would prefer the laundry separated from food/kitchen area. For a 4x2 house it is only around 155m2 excluding carport/alfresco which makes the rooms feel quite cramped, hence the desire to open up the family room. However, as Two's Company suggests we will need to first get a builder/eng in to check load bearing walls etc as this will undoubtedly affect what we can achieve within our budget. Having said that I still excited by many of your ideas and with luck hopefully can work some of them into the budget. Cheers all :)

Hi all our terrazzo bench has been installed and in use for over 12 months. This bench was poured in Italy and then finished by a stonemason off-site type. When 1st installed I spilt some lemon juice which created a mark so we are careful not to use acidic items on the bench. I am not sure if this happened before or after we sealed it but I think it’s important to seal any natural stone product and we used the sellers recommended product called “slow drying sure seal” but I won’t vouch for its effectiveness as I can’t compare it to anything. Over all we love the look but I think you need to be a little more careful around natural products than engineered ones so it may depend on your lifestyle

We had a guy who printed posters print the photo and stick it on the glass for us (to make sure there were no air bubbles). He delivered it to the glazier who was installing the splashback. There was so much interest as it sat in the showroom, the glazier then started offering glass with pictures actually printed onto them... If your wall was smooth, you could put the 'poster' print onto ther wall as another option.