Thank you everyone, your thoughtful advice was very welcome. I'm attaching a photo as its all finished. I selected Olive Reserve for the splash back and painted the wall above it the same colour. As its a big room with lots of light and a large window it doesn't dominate. The glass is so easy to keep clean and I love the way it reflects the garden and light. Have to say though some people are stunned into silence when they see it, but as the cupboards and bench tops are quite bland I knew something bright was needed

Hi Jacey Eve, How is your splashback coming along? We are the manufacturers of the Pressed Tin Panels product (yes we sell it too - but believe we know what we are talking about- most of us who work here have a pressed metal splashback at home too!) I believe the great responses have covered what we would recommend for the panels as a splashback and that is the powder coating. It makes them a non-porous and easy to clean surface as well as a long lasting, good looking surface. With basic care it will remain that way for many,many years to come. We believe it is very competitively priced and an easy DIY product to install. If we can provide you (or anyone else reading this) a sample, prices, details of stockists, an install guide or a quote just let me know mardi@pressedtinpanels.com Visit our website for more info and ideas: www.pressedtinpanels.com Regards Mardi

Hi Laurel, I'm a huge fan of pressed tin! If you are going to use it in a kitchen I highly recommend getting it powder coated in the colour of your choice and properly installed (you can do it yourself) and then it's good to go, scratch proof, easy to wipe down and simply stunning. I don't have any pics of it where we've installed it as a splash back but we did use it to create a cover for our fully integrated dishwasher. This has been installed for over three years in our house with four boys (3 teenagers) and doesn't have a mark on it despite their grubby paws and rough handling.

If you are in New Zealand, I have often found great lights (and a big range) at Lighting Plus. When I was putting my house on the market I put three of these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/jaga-bcopal-1light-pendant.html over my kitchen benchtop, and they looked just gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact, that I have already bought three new ones in advance for when I upgrade the kitchen lighting in my new house. They also have these : http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/hudson25-whitegold-1lt-pendant.html or these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/trumpet35-pendant-blackgold.html  if you like the look of the internal gold under the shade. There are also others similar. I have also found some great lights at : http://www.edenlighting.co.nz/collections/pendant-lights . All of these are very affordable. However if you want to go really high end, and you like NZ timber lights, you can't go past : https://www.davidtrubridge.com/collection/lighting/  Just my 2c. Enjoy.