Could you install vertical partitions in your bench storage area? Is the seat high enough to allow the platters to stand upright on their sides? If so, you could install "spacers" at bottom and top, and slide foam board into those spacers to form the partitions. If you pad the bottom of the bench storage area it may prevent breakage if you accidentally drop a piece as you are sliding it into it's space. (By the way, don't buy foam board that is shrink wrapped because it is slightly bowed from the shirk wrapping.) I use small rectangles of foam board, which I cover with pretty paper (using spray adhesive), to stack some glass ware in my cabinets. I don't like to do it, but sometimes there just isn't enough space to store all of the barware we have. I also use it to stack cups. I turn the cups upside down - first layer supports the foam board and second layer of cups goes on top of foamboard. I have found foamboard very useful as an organizing aide.

I would use graphic black and white rugs and choose a strong color such as red or lime green or colbalt blue as the color that gives punch to you apt. Get some pillows to pick up the color from the shelve where I would put some modern vases. You can find them at Marshalls or Burlington Coat Factory etc. for almost nothing or Home Goods.

@wuff -- I bought mine a few months ago while on a trip to the USA. It wasn't on holiday and had limited shopping time, which left me with empty luggage space to fill :-). I visited a discount/surplus items store and got them cheap! I'd been looking for months for some, but nothing I saw here came close to the heavy-quality metal of the ones I bought. They're made by a company called Seville Classics. Here's a link to their website page: https://www.sevilleclassics.com/kitchen_counter_top_organizer Following my return to Oz, I emailed the company enquiring about availability in Australia. I never received a reply. Much to my surprise, I recently discovered that Howards Storage World is now selling them. Here's the link: http://www.hsw.com.au/index.php?product&id_prod=6558&id_cat=106&id_dept=510#.VcDbmSkbA5s The one available at HSW is as shown in my earlier photos and is different to the ones I have. I'm not sure if the thickness of the metal is the same. Kind of hard to tell when I didn't have mine with me at HSW. Items are so much easier to access than if they were stacked. Best part is that others in the house have no excuse about putting items back into these organising racks. Here's a link showing the Seville products being sold by HSW. http://www.hsw.com.au/?product=&search=seville&op=search_products&x=0&y=0

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.