I have had both arrangements (stove in island bench and now on a wall) and each was exactly the right solution to the particular challenges of each particular house – taking into account views, orientation, passageways and articulation with other parts of the house as well as the number of people in the household etc. I would say though that when we had the stove in the island bench that island bench was a very deep one so that people sitting along the non-working side of the island were well clear of any spatter and still had space for their meals (if it was just family sitting up at the bench for breakfast or lunch) or for guests with drinks and nibbles in front of them). And for both situations I felt the need for a high-quality, very quiet exhaust system – there is no point having an exhaust system that only shifts (or recycles) a small amount of air or sounds like a jet taking off (the worst is a combination of the two) – if you want to use your kitchen for a combination of serious cooking and socialising (and you don't have staff!) then you need a super quiet, super efficient exhaust system to make the combination work.

I've had just about every form of heating through the years, all of them pricey to run and variously good/average/bad. Five years ago I bought a house with hydronic heating and it is by far the best. My house is always warm in winter and nothing blows on you, I hate that, and you don't need to be anywhere near it, it's just warm everywhere, very balanced, I'd not have anything else now. I'm about to purchase another house and enquired about retro fitting, it isn't a problem as long as there's a gap under the house apparently. It costs around $1600 per unit from what I could gather. I currently have one large one in my living room and only having a small single level house it heats the whole place so I've never actually needed to turn on the others. You would with a two storey house. I have problems with allergies and hydronic heating is the first method that doesn't stir anything up for me, perhaps because it's not drying, it feels very natural. It's quite cost effective to run too and I keep it going just about all the time during Melbourne's winters. Having come from the NW of WA I feel the cold and sometimes park myself near the heater until I'm toasty, I've not come across a local who has needed to go to that extreme however. Good luck, keep hydronic on your list I doubt you'd regret choosing it if you decide to go that way.

Hi Karina. Haha very funny re your art piece, KitchenAid! Baking is so much fun; I'm a baker from way way back, and you learn by just jumping in and doing it. About the height of your combined dining/bench table, it's pretty important to have a height that's comfortable for you whilst you work. I'm tall and my family is too, so we had the benchtop height built higher so we are not getting backaches from constantly having to bend over to work. It's really more important for the one who does all or most of the cooking & baking to be comfortable as you can spend long periods of time reading and working out recipes, then putting it all together. Likewise, if you are shorter, choose a table that suits you. Best wishes and keep us posted.

Lots of helpful comments and suggestions here, but their relevance is only good if one knows where the person lives ie Canberra is very different to Sydney. I live in inland NSW - cold winters, hot dry summers. We had hydronic heating panels installed into our 1930's house about 10 years ago. Absolutely love it, and after having suffered through reverse cycle, and then gas underfloor heating in previous houses would not use anything else. Cost is high but in our climate heating is essential. We are looking at building and considering whether to use a heat pump instead of a boiler, so we can be all electric. Jury is still out as the temperature of the water is not as high through the heat pump. In our hot dry summers we use evaporative cooling. Once again, wouldn't recommend anything else, but we do supplement it with a RC system in the back, north facing living area after we have had a run of plus 40 days - so maybe use it about 5-6 days a year. It is what I consider to be our indulgence. Hadn't thought about the condensation factor if using the hydronic panels with cold water - have seen it mentioned somewhere and wondered how it would work in our new place. I'd say a thumbs down. Hope you sorted your problem Natalie - Canberra is far too cold to not have the best heating.