Thanks everyone - your comments and diagrams have given me plenty of ideas I hadn't considered. Perhaps shifting the wall is a little drastic! I'm now thinking of going a long U shape like this. I'll add a few upper cabinets on the left side too for the most frequently used stuff from the pantry (as the pantry is still a distance from the stove/oven). The fridge as you can see is now right amongst the action. We also have a chest freezer hiding out in the laundry which I can move into the old fridge space...alternatively I might convert it to a computer workstation as suggested. I'm leaning towards a peninsula rather than an island, just because I feel like it will give me a slightly more efficient/seamless work space, and we don't expect seating at at the island/peninsula will get used much given how close the dining table is. Any thoughts on this revised layout?

thank you for the suggestions & the photo helpful I get down to a ushaped kitchen with a 2.2m island & sink maybe across the U and a servery bifold window - does this close out the room and make it look crowded ceilings are 3.1m OR the island butted close to sliding doors which looks like an island when sliding doors are opened like the photo Also does the window splash back add very much in a small kitchen with no outlook from this window, that is the splashback window spilts the attention focus and doesnte seem to add much to the overall perspective. Is a more traditional title a better option & shift all of the focus to the large sliding door opening & garden.

Brief: The existing kitchen had a dark and dated colour scheme and the clients vision was to really brighten the space up, at the same time to bring an element of luxury to the kitchen area. The clients wanted a crisp white kitchen to give an open-plan living room to complement the furniture in the rest of the home. The existing kitchen joinery was dated brown wood and the bulky dark benchtop dominated the space, the galley was so cramped, and the fridge/ pantry being located under the stairs, making it a very cramped and awkward space to work in. The clients wanted to ensure that the terrace house flowed from one room to the next - so consistency in design principles was paramount. Design Statment: In order to improve the flow of the kitchen and the serviceability of the layout, We relocated the fridge and pantry to be in line with the stairs - we also resurfaced the flooring - and by doing this we could increase the size of the kitchen - by only a small margin, but the change has helped to make the kitchen more roomy and pleasant to be in. We used a minimal and neutral colour scheme to create that airy feeling in the space and by using black appliances, the kitchen is an elegant statement of luxury - with nothing dominating the scheme in the form of contrasting finishes - the result is simplicity and elegance, and really serves to enhance the clients’ furnishings and artworks. Before: After: Check out the entire project here!

Adding the bulk heads in the kitchen in your build points to wanting to add wall units in the future .Your rangehood could have cabinets either side or open timber shelves, the new cabinets could be timber which would add warmth or white as suggested above. I love Julies examples of lights especially the small cones which could be set in pairs above the island with a single one each side of the rangehood installed on the underside of the bulk head. ( my program didn't have anything I could use to show the light size correctly) My colours aren't spot on but should give some perspective, and I haven't shown any Cornice as my program won't add them to the bulkhead/soffit sections.