Dilemma #2 Here's an elevation of the powder room which has a 120mm drop down in the stone then a 180mm laminate panel... The idea is for it to look a bit (although not exactly) like this... Our floor tiles are similar (if not the same) as the above photo and go up the wall to below the vanity, the 180mm panel (which photo doesn't have - incidentally, what do you think of the shelf underneath the vanity?) is a black laminate and the feature tile between the vanity and the mirror (incidentally, should we take the mirror to the ceiling?) is Jewels Preto: So which colour should we go for the stone top, Lagoon or Blanco Zeus??... I'm swaying towards Lagoon as it's a bit more of a feature than just plain white, but I'm unsure :/

Okay, so as expected the matt suede surface is more expensive, not sure how much yet but when the builder says price on application, I can imagine it will be a fair bit more. Anyway, we'll see but something to take into consideration I guess... In the meantime, I was going through my idea books and found the photo below, which I kind of forgot about but is one of my absolute favourite kitchens... the point is just like the photo, we too will have a wall cabinet in matt black, the back of the island in matt black and oak floor boards in a natural/textured matt finish... so now I'm thinking maybe too many matt surfaces, interestingly they have gone with a polished stone top which I think is reflecting the light nicely... Our floors...

After taking a while thinking about your proposition the biggest problem with that is not having a cabinet with large drawers. I think there are other interesting ideas I can appreciate from your photos apart from my primary dilemma. The area alongside the cook top isn't used for it's intended purpose as a work bench. We simply have our appliances set there and this gives me food for thought as a pantry next to my stove. I would like to have cabinets above my fridge too, I use the top of the fridge for bread, cereal, etc. It gets dirty and things fall behind the fridge. Lastly I think the position of my fridge is impractical and better placed at the other end of where we have foot traffic.

While it is a great update on a budget , I'll be the desenting voice haha . Theres a few things I would have done differently . I don't like the polished concrete floors -- a bit too trendy IMO , especially when other items haven't been updated -- a mix of periods looks a bit strange to me . Ironically , the only place I would have considered the polished concrete is the bathroom floor -- the blue tiles look great , the white cabinets and black taps -- and then you keep brown speckled tiles on the floor ? The kitchen is okay -- I'm not a huge fan of the blue doors , personally I would have gone with bright yellow or orange , and gone with oversized stainless handles on all the cabinets , and a stainless wall oven . And fake weatherboard aged vinyl board flooring in light brown and whitewash mix -- it would tie in better with the cupboards and the new stainless oven and handles . I'd suspect my budget would have been within a couple of thousand of yours ? Likewise , I like the overall design of the living and bedroom areas , with the exception of the concrete -- too trendy , too cold IMO . Personally , I would have gone with beige or cream or maize carpet , maybe extending the kitchen 'aged weatherboard' vinyl flooring into the dining area . Then again , everyone has different tastes .