The black is striking, but once is goes up the walls it's impact will become overbearing in time. The brown is most complimentary, although I fear this will outdate your Bench top quickly. The white doesn't scream out as much, although is stark in contrast, this small shot doesn't show that once on an entire wall, your line of sight only settles upon a Bench top as a horizontal plane you want that surface illuminated, and the white tile on the vertical plane will not only disappear into the space, but will also reflect any light onto that surface. When going with a white tile, the bench top will have time to be the single statement in the kitchen, until it is changed. The white doesn't have to factor into that too much. My only thought is that to take an ordinary white tile, I suggest laying them in an extraordinary manner. Change up the layout and emphasize grout lines.

Hi Kris, loving the niche idea... I think it or they will look great whichever way you go, it's all a matter of taste, but maybe have a think about the items (and size) you'd like to display before deciding... here's just a few ideas for you... good luck 1. If the niche is being 'built-out' with gyprock from the brick pillar (as I imagine the bricks can't be pulled out without affecting the structural support) then I'd make the niche deeper, say to the end/edge of the breakfast bar (which will have an overhang of at least 300mm anyway) with a wooden insert and at the bottom of the false wall create some storage, cabinet or drawers (you could even add wooden shelves for books or display)... e.g: Other ideas... 2. Two plastered niches with led lighting 3. One big niche with wooden insert, downlight and glass shelves for display 4. Three niches with wooden inserts & downlights x3 (note add. electrical cost)

Hi Rach163 So the splashback is along the wall behind the stove? And is full height to the ceiling? No overhead cabinets there? Certainly for an all-white kitchen, and a very small wood-element on the table, I'd suggest a feature colour splashback. There's a few ways you could make it pop - a colour such as a rich red, or a striking (but not bright) green, or even a blue would work well. We used colour-backed glass for our splashback in our all-white (but dark benchtop) kitchen, which is low maintenance and looks very "rich". It's a red (burgundy?) feature "wall" below overhead cabinets on two sides of our mostly L-shaped kitchen, and we also put it under the island bench/table, to tie the two together. The other idea that struck me is that you have a view to the outside (albeit a covered courtyard dining area now?). That made me think of a mirror to reflect the view, or at least the light - so something like a polished stainless steel. Perhaps in sections or strips with brushed steel, to reduce maintenance :-) For the lighting, we used an led strip under our overhead cabinets, either side of the range-hood, and around the corner to where our sink is. You could do something similar with a narrow aluminium channel either at the ceiling (probably too high) or at range-hood level with an led strip (a waterproof one!) inside it. It's nearly invisible when not on, just a crisp brushed/polished metal line, but gives a really bright uniform light across the whole bench area, and no shading issues with the main room lights behind you. If you wanted real wow, get a multi-colour led strip that can be colour changed (and be dimmed) to suit your needs and moods. And if you wanted to freak people out, you can get a multi-colour programmable led strip that can also do things like active lightwaves, pulsing and respond to music and a bunch of other things :-) All of the strips are dirt cheap, unless you buy them through most Australian lighting stores :-/ We also put a dimmer led strip underneath our island benchtop, to pick up the splashback/underbench colour, and as a nice 'night-light' of an evening. Works really nicely. I've seen some people do it at the kickboard level (i.e. 140mm above the floor), to make it look like everything is floating, but I've found that only works for some kitchens. One of the benefits of controllable coloured led lighting can be that the splashback can also be white or silver, and it's the lighting that determines the perceived colour. Leds are quite directional though, great for benches but less for wider room lighting, unless you have them in a diffuser. We use led lightbulbs in four high ceiling fixtures, and one long-drop over-dining-bench light, since they are lovely and bright and warm (if chosen that way), and as the ambient light source. You can also get colour/controllable led lightbulbs but $$$. You want to think about where you want feature lighting (up or down), work lighting and ambient lighting. Think about where you will stand to work, and which lights you will be shading, which will be shining in your face, and which will actually help. We pushed around our lighting points on the design, and even over-catered on the number of fixtures, just in case we missed something. You can always disconnect a light and cover it trivially, but putting one in later or shifting one is a bit messy. Anyway, my two bits. :-) Cheers, Markus

Hi Richard - the final kitchen layout looks amazing!! Congratulations. Any chance you could tell me what program you're using to design the kitchen / layout? I'm starting some minor renovation works on my house soon and would love to use something similar.