Hi Brett about 5 to 10 years ago the trend was if your design style was contemporary your trim colour was the same as the walls and if your design style was classic your trim was a lighter, often white contrast to the wall colour. These days the trend is to the latter regardless of your design style as your builder's designers suggested. However matching your trim colour to the walls is still a good option if you have 8' ceilings. As there is minimal difference (only in the level of sheen) between the skirting boards and wall colour it makes the ceiling look higher. Another option is to do the trim in a similar but lighter tone such as Dulux Grey Pebble quarter. This is a very subtle tone on tone look. Whatever the colour, do you have a choice in the sheen level for your trim? I generally recommend semi gloss enamel on trim unless you are after a more classic look and your woodwork is in very good condition (the higher the sheen level the more any imperfections show up), in which case you could consider full gloss enamel. At the end of the day it's your home so you should do what you'd prefer - after all it's only paint so it's easily changed! All the best with your build.

I would be more concerned with how those two cabinet colours work with your wall colour and concrete palate. I think one will be more favourable than the other if you can put samples together. Also keep in mind what lighting you'll be using. Since if you have cooler colours then 'cool white' 4000K lighting will look best, likewise if you have the warm Alabaster colour then 'warm white' 3000K would be best.

Hey Dounia The colour and the way it has been painted is very much what we saw in the late 90's and early 2000's when we all went through the textured paint feature wall craze. But, saying that Paint and design technology have come a long way since then and I would encourage you not to give up on the copper idea and use a modern approach and product. Dulux have recently added their new range of Design Effects, Here's the copper and concrete look. There's also other options available at www.dulux.com.au. You can email them for a copy of their brochure or they are readily available at Bunnings in the paint section. Thanks Paul

I like the colours you’ve suggested. I find neutrals restful. Do you have a sample of your cabinetry? An easy way to get a coordinated look, without whites clashing, is to have the white colour matched at the paint shop to the cabinetry. The colour match will tell you if White Beach is on the right track. I’d consider a more plainer white for the trim ie Natural White as suggested above or Berkshire White. For your splashback - could the budget stretch to the benchtop material? If not a tile colour that picks up one of the benchtop fleck colours will give you a coordinated look. Sounds lovely. Come back and post the completed pics.