oh good! The timber is a very sleek Tasmanian blackwood which is quarter cut (rather than the more usual crown cut) which gives a straight and smooth grain. So it will be a warmish timber, caramel brown. With regard to the greenery, my thought was to cut a "pigeon hole" out of the right side of the upper cupboards - to balance the floating shelf on the left - and have that timber lined for a lush green plant (in a pot of course, lol) And I'm not sure what light? A linear pendant along the island or is it too plain for such a sleek look and should I go for a classic Louis Poulsen or something? Thanks for the validation, I feel so much better!

Thank you everyone! Between you all you have summed up my concerns (changing bulbs, enough detail already in the stairwell, honouring the old house) and my desires (a nice lantern pendant or period light, LEDs need less changing, overhead lighting. I like the idea of the wall lights but we have not wired for this. There is wiring for for stair lighting (phew, glad we got that right) and one down light in the middle of the void. We have reconsidered a pendant as the one down light will be harder to change but are worried about obscuring the windows. Perhaps one of the simple fine-framed lantern pendants or white vintage light, on chains will be easier to change as we can pull it across to the stair, or a pulley pendant like this I'll post some more photos of our reno once its further on.

Depending on your taste of course, I would introduce some colour - either as tiles or a glass splashback. Personally I think you will need to fill the entire area otherwise there are simply more lines to take in and will create an unwanted feature. We've had a glass splashback painted back and it was super easy to clean. For one kitchen, we've gone for a bright yellow to give it some pop. You can also have photos too but it's not as easy as the file sizes mean that they need to be taken/supplied by a professional photographer. If tiles is your preference, there are many great patterned tiles out now. Good luck!

try www.soniclighting.com.au They're more commercial and specialised lighting consultant/supplier (as opposed to sales/shopfront) but they supply quality products and particularly good with the more contemporary looking gear.... if they don't have it visible online more often than not they can source something