I have thought about some sort of white cabinetry too but could it look a little odd with the rest of the house, as the house is rustic? My second thought was maybe oak cabinets with a light granite bench top, which would be the safer but maybe not so modern? I really don't like the look of painted bricks. I have seen some very nice brick wall kitchens on Houzz but my kitchen seems to have more bricks then most and a lot of the kitchens in Houzz mix plaster in the room, which looks amazing but I can't do that. I have found a great fabricator for the granite. I have also found that granite isn't much more expensive then Engineered Stone so I would rather go for the real thing.

Thank you all. Oskuee - actually, you may think that I am the selfish one. Out of the whole house my hubby only got the games and theatre to do what he wanted, the rest of the place was mine :-) It would be a glorious concert in the theatre! hah! There is no room left though as where the murphy bed is, is now the built in entertainment cupboards, and the murphy bed has been switched to the front wall. In the games room, we have a pool table, Neo Geo gaming machine, a bar fridge and some other manly type things. It COULD go in here, yes, and we might go this way, but I would prefer elsewhere (not the garage) SueM it is too long (145cm) to fit between the dining and kitchen/stairs. Vy, there is no retreat upstairs, and it is too big for the landing. Yeah, at this stage, it is likely to go in the games (to the left on the wall behind study) or under the aircon in the lounge. I had this really awesome idea to frame some of my grandmothers piano music, songs that were special to her and I, and have them as artwork on the wall behind the piano. This would have been so awesome near the front door. Sigh, hopefully it will still look nice wherever the piano ends up going. Thank you all again. Sandra

Hi pallavi the cut out area would be great for the marble table. A large round mirror above it (i just bought one from freedom at a reasonable price). Maybe a hanging macrame pot plant in the corner (hanging from thr ceiling) where ur current plant is......this would be a vocal point as soon as people walk in. Yes a piece of artwork on the opposite wall would be nice to balance both sides. Hope this helps you alittle to get ur creative hat on and just go for it. the only problem is there is no storage as u wanted but you can always put a nice bowl on the console for u to store keys.

i would also omit the clerestory windows as the focus should be from the inside looking out, keeping the fireplace central allows for symmetrical joinery and the couches can then be placed to allow for a walkway and cabinets/shelves along the bathroom wall and keeps through traffic from obstructing a view of the fire, TV and the pool....keeping in mind that the only time we ever look directly at the external wall so carefully is on the plans... in the real world we see the wall looking close up from ground level in the side yard or from across the street from an angle but a simple faux chimney added to the external wall could be enough interest and/or if there's space for attractive landscaping a tall window matching the main house and a glass door could add cross ventilation, late afternoon sun and interest viewed from inside and out but consider a wider landing, steps and perhaps a porch roof if the side door will be used regularly