had thought white but am worried it might be too stark i have a black glass door fridge not sure whether to go black and maybe a light shade of green for majority of cabinets with a black bench top

Surprisingly very few bar stools from the mid-century were designed for the home. They were more likely to have been designed for cafes, pubs etc etc. The mid-century example shown is by Erik Buch and originates from Denmark.

I'm not sure how we are supposed to choose which design we prefer when all 3 'after' designs are so similar? All galley kitchens with an island.

Hi SonaandDi, In case you haven't come across it, here is the link to my finished kitchen: https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/5598603/renovation-of-our-1956-red-brick-triple-fronted-home-all-done This layout has the potential for issues, but I tried to factor those in by noting where the fridge doors came to when fully opened. I should have allowed a little more width for the fridge gap, as the theory didn't quite translate in practice: on the plans I allowed the minimum of 20mm either side of fridge, but ended up with only about 13mm (was not fun getting the fridge in!). So my suggestion is to make sure there is 50mm either side of fridge. eg the fridge space is 1000mm wide for french door fridge around the 900mm mark. Even so, my doors do open fully (vegie drawers slide out unobstructed), as the doors themselves sit forward of the nib wall on the right. If your fridge space is wider, you won't need to sit the fridge out the full thickness of the doors, which may look more streamlined. But make sure you allow for 50mm space at the back of fridge. This will decide the depth of your nib wall. I calculated mine as 50mm plus the depth of the fridge to the start of the doors. You might prefer to make it a bit deeper, as the doors have more room to open due to the extra width of the space. It isn't annoying having the door opening over the pantry entry. It isn't often that someone wants to get to the pantry at the exact moment someone else opens the fridge. Even if that happened, you could get past if you couldn't wait: Good luck with your renovation! Because you can't be on site, I would always factor in more wiggle room. Let me know if I can help with any more info - I could talk about this stuff all day long!