Thanks for all the ideas siriuskey - I like being challenged with some left field ideas I hadn't thought of before. For colour schemes we're thinking of a white marble Caesar top with warm white laminate cabinets on the island, then charcoal laminate cabinets against the wall. For splashback we're thinking a high gloss white caesar. This is all just our initial thoughts and we'll probably get the colour consultant back to help us refine those plans and tell us where we've gone wrong :) With regards to getting the rangehood in over the island, I don't think I could swing the industrial look first idea, but the roof-mounted box to bring it down closer to the island top could work. Mounting some downlights into it as well should make lighting more effective too! I'm also warming to your idea of wrapping the cabinetry around onto the return wall and housing the ovens there. It does mean they're a fair hike away from the fridge, but it gives us a LOT more cooktop space which more than likely outweighs spreading the "triangle" out so far. So much to think about! I'm loving all of the ideas though :) I've been thinking of building some seating into the bay window (we've had a couch JAMMED into our bay in the lounge room and its a messy look) so maybe a banquette seat (never knew thats what they're called haha) would work. I just need it to sit relatively low-profile against the wall so that it doesn't make the gap between the seat and island too tight to get through.

Hi there Dave, sorry for not responding sooner, I have been a bit unwell. I would like to add the following ideas. 1) You mention going to a kitchen company and showing your current kitchen plan, the better thing for you to have done would to have taken your floor plan with measurements and asked them what they would suggest, as long as they didn't want to charge you. This way you would get more ideas, not just them politely agreeing hoping to get your business, and why not, 2) I would contact several builders to come on site and give you their ideas of what needs to be done and advise if you would need to involve council and the building costs involved in doing this. The builders will have their own trades electrical and plumbing that work as a team 3) You mention flat packs, they are a great option and can save you a lot of money, Bunnings will do a kitchen plan and cost in store at no charge, Ikea will do the same but not sure about any charges. You can also go online to both and work out a plan, but I would strongly suggest you speak face to face them as they know their product. Bunnings run in store programs where they show you how to assemble their cabinets, both stores have video tutorials, believe me it's worth watching as flat pack anything can be a nightmare. If you can assemble your own cabinets in your own time it will save you a.lot of money, starting sooner than later would be a very good idea I didn't get up to mentioning in planning the layout of your kitchen that the larger the cabinets you use will also save money, ie 2 x 900 as against 3 x 600, the cost per unit plus instead of paying for 3 cabinets to be installed it's 2. It's also makes for a simpler looking design. Most of our Bunnings kitchen is made up of 900 units 2 x Drawers & 900 units 3 x drawer. The exception is 800 cabinet for the sink. 5) Cook top, I would strongly suggest you work a 900 into your kitchen (this would mean having to use a smaller cabinet either side or just between the cook top and the wall). 900 cook tops give superior space to use especially when using large pots/woks and fry pans, they also help to protect laminated bench tops from accidental put down and burns, 6) Range hood, the best look for your kitchen wouldn't be a large stainless wall mounted unit and that's good news as the intergrated ones in over head cabinets would not only look better, give more storage and would cost less. 7) The Island, you have been trying to decide what size, well if you don't have plumbing installed, the island can be free standing with or with out plinths and can be moved if you decide you need more space. You do need to have a couple of power points but make sure they have a longer connection. Our Island is 2.7 x 1200 and has both a cook top and oven with power points and can be moved approx 500m in each direction due to having longer connections. 8) Bench tops, you mention laminate due to cost, we had that problem what with the size of the island. So we went with Plywood (not Marine) We went to Mr Plywood who when the next delivery came in chose a piece with a beautiful grain, had it cut to size and delivered. The plywood sheet came in a 3 meter length but not all do, we had enough to do the sink bench and a top for a tressel table & legs my better half made. cost with delivery 2hrs approx $400. We did a shadow line bench top which had a smaller size white set back under lay. You need to use a good two pack pot sealant on the Plywood. Finally I don't know where I got the picture of the retro coloured kitchen cabinets, but look online at both Bunnings and Ikea cheers

Thanks annb we just try not to think about it too much, there's the offending neighbours house of brick then a brick fence 1200 and then 1000 to the front bedroom wall and a step back of approx 3 meters to our dining open plan. We have planted a Ficus hedge on the wall and planted Olive trees in front which we keep trimmed, just a funnel. I think with power costs he doesn't use it so much thankfully, As always thank so much for your support and positive input, Forget the Claytons. x

Thank you all for your comments, suggestions, drawings and photos, I really appreciate the effort you all put in to help others on this great platform. I have come up with another idea (see photos below) that involves putting the fridge on the back wall of the kitchen behind cabinetry doors (yes, I know I was adamantly against this!) and bringing the door of the pantry forward to be in line with the front of the fridge. The pantry door would also be cabinetry and the section of wall. I don’t really know how to explain this, but the wall the kitchen backs on to would be bulk headed out so it continues in line with the pantry/fridge front all the way to the ceiling. This creates a sort of symmetry in the doors of the fridge and pantry being either side of the cooktop, but without the worry of having to line the rangehood up with the apex of the cathedral ceiling....I think. What do you think? P.S. Please excuse my shoddy hand drawn sketches.