I have had a similar problem having chosen and purchased travertine tiles for the bathrooms and kitchen and then we we decided to tile the rest of the living area and couldn't match the tile we already had, I was in a huge dilemma. Fortunately I found a plain tile in the same tone which should give my living area a different and moden look so my suggestion is to do as I did, and find a plain tile that matches the same tone as your existing tiles and you should be pleasantly surprised. Good luck, Barbara

Hi Bradleys54, as you are creating a 'contemporary' style home, I would keep your kitchen finishes nice and simple - white on white. Then bring in colour variation by selecting a paint colour in a gorgeous, sophisticated grey, for the surrounding walls/bulkhead. Taubmans Cloudburst or Taupe Grey are both great interior colours. Your white kitchen will look fresh and crisp inside this colour. Consider a mirrored or grey kick face to your kitchen to work in with this scheme and glass pendants with grey or black fittings. I'm assuming that window will become your Kitchen Splashback.. If you wanted to steer away from an 'all-white' kitchen, then you could select Caesarstone's sleek concrete for your kitchen island bench top only, which would work in beautifully with they grey interior paintwork. Good luck!

Cost is not necessarily a big issue as some would expect. The cost's may not be that much different, many say it's more but forget to say by how much....... Some 'standard' but exceptional quality aluminium window and door systems are way more expensive than timber. Some other aluminium systems are quite poor in every aspect, apart from the glazing itself. Not really comparing apples with apples as the quality varies considerably and is quite complicated with so many manufacturers all offering various products at various thermal performance levels. Even some well known brands can be quite poor performing..... requiring double glazing where a comparably priced product but better quality only needs single..... Buyer beware! Window systems are becoming more of a priority during design than ever before. I'd shop around and get costings first rather than giving them boot just yet in particular if you really love them. Maintenance is really just painting (every 5 years?) or oiling the timber. Just keeping everything cleaned goes a long way to lowering the workload. Also being brick, that has reduced your workload again allowing some extra time to look after and admire the timber which you'll be looking at everyday when inside or out.

Thanks for all the detailed comments! A few clarifications from me.. We have done the BASIX and so, really, the window size, shape, location is determined. That wasn't clear of me, sorry, I guess I meant we can change the dimensions (within reason) to suit if a "standard size" is cheaper than the size that we have currently, which was rather arbitrary. But this way of thinking might be totally irrelevant! All the windows/doors penetrations are blocked out when they pour the concrete panels, so while we could infill or something if the penetration is too big, we are really trying to get it right now so there are no breaks in the concrete. I think we also did the BASIX with double glazing and Al frames originally (will look it up) but as we are off grid that kind of blew everything else out of the water. We have done all the shadow diagrams and spent a lot of time with placement and eaves. I think that part is OK. I am pretty set on double glazing and thermally broken frames (where aluminium). Thanks Paul for your comment of 10-15%. Our preliminary quote from out builder is certainly not that high (more like 5%) and I was having trouble seeing how we could get everything for that price. I am sure it is possible, and while we are very conscious not to over-capitalise, I don't think the most basic product is a good idea. oklouise, I share your concerns about bifolds! I don't really like them but my partner really wants them and I'm happy to give on that one. I have one quote from CedarWest which seems reasonable, but then it's the same again for an integrated screen!! Will consider other ways of doing that. So! More details: See attached the overall floor plan (floor plan attached twice, sorry!) and views. Great 270deg views (all but west as sort of dug into a hill to avoid the wind). There are 2 pods connected by an open walkway. Ignore the round window - point of contention and may change. The main pod has two large east-facing windows. A thought was gas-lift windows with the large bottom sill to serve as extra seating when open. In the E view, the verandah will not have that many posts so the view is not actually obstructed. Any ideas are greatly appreciated! I think I am just struggling with all the choice, and need to start pining down some constrains that I can work within! Thank you!!