Netty, firstly thank you for posting your question because we are stuck on splashback ideas also and the only difference between our kitchens is that you have opted for gloss on your cupboards and we have gone satin. We are currently waiting on our shi*take bench tops to be installed.... hopefully within the next week. After much googling, hubby has decided that he likes the glass bullet style in a neutral tone (much like the tile you have gone with but in glass obviously) and I am liking the bullet style tile also, just not sure whether glass or a mix of stone, glass etc would work. At least I know we are on the right track now, so thanks again! Can't wait to see a photo when your done (hint hint ;-) )

Hi Carmel, I'm not a architect and I do value everyone's professional opinion, but can't help thinking that perhaps you and your husband are both right. The breakfast table would look great in a natural stone, it is the where you eat, have tea or wine on, maybe a small project, entertain or have a fork fight on. Choose a granite or marble that's going to tie in with the splash back and your lovely timber floors and go with a wow factor like a stand out vein or run of colour in it. Makes it interesting. As for the rest a dark or even black solid surface or laminate is ideal. I find them soft and touchable, easy to maintain, a pleasure to work on and it adds the extra modern elements that's missing from this lovely galley style kitchen. Corian is another brand of solid surface but a textured dark laminate from A reputable laminate supplier should do it too. Make this room an energy that you want to be in not just look great. Kind regards Marina.

That is a dream bench top. exactly what I had and what I would do again. Once your kitchen is finished it is going to look great. Your original vision and gut feeling for what you wanted was right. You just need to see the bigger picture when it's in the middle of the build. The overhand is perfect. Too small and there would be nowhere to put your knees. Cant wait to see the finished room. Also dont fret. Once decorated with pots pans, coffee machine etc.. you'll be in total love with it.

oklouise and dreamer, thank you so much for your input! Sorry I disappeared for a while, the weekend was a little crazy, also a lot to process after your suggestions. oklouise, your idea to turn the island 90 degrees is genius! I was obviously mentally stuck on the existing wall and could only imagine the island going along (instead of) it, not across it. I can see the beauty of the suggestion to use that whole "left" wall for the kitchen. I have even walked the rooms imagining how it could work. However after much thinking and discussions with my husband, we prefer to have the living/TV area in that corner rather than in the open area as suggested. Again, I see how this suggestion will work beautifully for many families but not for us. Also, the window in the living area (on the left wall) is 190cm wide and floor to ceiling, and looks into a park. It's the top floor and no neighbours on that side, the view is lovely and we would really like to keep it unobstructed. dreamer, thank you for the idea of a portable island. However, I am very keen on having a second sink and there seems to be no other place for it (provided I'm sticking with what ). Also I thought I'd have a couple of power points there to be able to use my appliances, also it'll be around 2m long, so probably either way too big to be portable. For now I've used oklouise's fantastic suggestion and rotated the island, and made it smaller, now it perfectly aligns with the window on the left and the door at the bottom of the plan. It now looks like there is quite enough space to have a proper dining table to the right of the kitchen. What do you think? I'm providing the current floor plan with the dimensions, the grey area is the existing kitchen/dining footprint. This plan is accurate (done by an experienced person) but my design is probably off as I'm not experienced at all, was just playing with some ideas and a design tool.