I'm sure there's plenty of confusion about the why's and wherefore's of house orientation. The reality, as I have recently discovered, is that if want to live in an area that is older, developed, close to facilities, you take whatever orientation the block actually happens to be and do the best you can with it. Unless you're out in the country, or buying something in a new estate, you may not get a choice of orientation: we certainly didn't. And yes, our garage does have the best aspect - because there was nowhere else to put it - it had to face the street - but we live walking distance to shops (think of the petrol saved on not having to get into the car), we've got clerestory windows on the west side so no afternoon sun issues, and we're assembling a collection of sails for the south side, where the deck is, to provide shade from the late afternoon sun. Oh, and skylights for the kitchen. No, not ideal. But the location is, and the designers have worked around the constraints of orientation. And that's reality for a lot of us.

I would vote for the top example here. Itr gives an earthy tone to the room and yet is still bright and wont show every piece of dust or food.

Hi Kate. Apologies for delay in answering. Since you mentioned the light grey, I popped out to a kitchen showroom to look at benches and colours for the cupboards. I have a sample of a soft grey Caesar stone with cool white doors. I think this will work. Thank you so much.

We have used black carcasses for a black and wood kitchen. Looks great and everything is easy to find. Cost an extra $1000 on the total reno but absolutely worth it imo. The white would look cheaper especially when pulling out the black drawers to see the stark white inside. We also opted for dark drawer runners.