I think it is good to mix up the warm and cool colours. We have warm furniture too so its just the walls that are cool. I even have a beige/stone coloured curtain next to the grey wall and it looks so nice. Because this is an open plan room do you think those type of tiles will be too busy? I always go for plain things but i can see how something like that would look really good! This is one big room with lounge, dining, kitchen and french doors that open to a massive decking. I will post a pic of the whole thing when the final benchtop and tiles go on

Thanks for this!!! This design woukd be ideal but has a few hurdles. There is 400mm between sliding door & wall and the window sits 700mm off the floor. This large window is north facing and attracts the all the much needed sunshine, especially in winter (were in Tasmania). I don't know if turning it into a splashback window would a. loose the light/warmth b. cost a bomb to replace & re-brick

with a lot of helpers crowding around to help i suggest that the new kitchen needs to be zoned for tasks and be open plan without a separate pantry...this rough idea has a central island about 2m x 3m surrounding the column and walkways approx 1.5 m between counters, subject to available space with the column the island has mostly underbench drawers for pantry food storage, crockery and cutlery and the counter is for food preparation, serving, sorting and distributing clean and dirty cookware and bags of groceries etc and has a small extra sink but no more than a couple of stools to keep the workers moving!!..Subject to suitable access the central space under the big island (would be about 60cms wide, 90cm tall and almost 3m long!) would be ideal to store folding tables and chairs and "christmas" supplie in wheeled storage crates or pull out kitchen island trolley..There's a full size fridge and freezer as well as an underbench drawer fridge next to the tea, coffee & toast area,with cup glasses and breakfast supplies in the overhead cabinets..twin dishwashers with double sinks, hot cold water dispensers, pull out garbage bins and a modern insinkerator or compost disposal in the sink area..the cooktop and food prep area is on both sides of the corner with big appliances underneath, and serving plates and casserole dishes etc overhead..The base cabinets should be deeper than normal for more generous counters and giant cooking equipment and appliances stored underneath and to have shallow splashback shelves for herbs,oils, sauces etc and there's a stacked wall oven and microwave and a stacked wall oven with warming drawer and vertical shelves above the ovens to stand up trays, racks, cake and pizza trays and drawers below the ovens for saucepans and baking dishes...decorative finishes and fine details need to be determined by the resident cook for personal taste and everyday comfort

by using standard cabinets pulled out from the window walll and adding a deeper counter there'll be a narrow void along the wall with space to install a sink and dw and then cut out a space in the counter to allow for the lower window frame and create a dropped shelf for an inside "window box", ideal for a few small plants or herbs and then use tall shallow freestanding cabinets or bookshelves for pantry storage and add a small freestanding extendable dining table.instead of an island..eg IKEA Billy bookcases with plain and glass doors for the pantry and they have a wide range of suitable tables...and note that the pantry cabinet can extend outside the kitchen space eg glass doors would be good for dinnerware, glasses, books and music and if the new laundry door is positioned as shown there'll be better use of the corner shown as a "study nook" for a desk or ironing work space etc