Yes great minds think alike! the wall to the right that you can't see in the picture is actually painted red, and we have a red and white striped rug on the floor which you can't see either! And there is also the entrance door which opens into the kitchen that we painted red too.

Hi, if it's any help I went through this recently too. We built our first new home and colour selection was a nightmare for me, I wanted everything white! With so many different shades of white I was concerned we would get a 'stark' look, I can tell you that's not the case. We have Lexicon quarter on our walls, white ceiling, white porcelain floor tiles, white Caesar bench top in kitchen, white Polyurethane kitchen cupboards, white shutters, even a milky white splash back and marble fireplace surround, I thought it was too much at first...but...when you start furnishing and dependent on what style your after, I was going for a hamptons/coastal relaxed but modern style it will all come together...I found neutral colors bright pillows and soft light really make the home 'alive and inviting' and it always seems fresh, I have some of our home pictured on Houzz, just click through to my account and you can get some ideas :) you can never go wrong with white IMHO or have too much because it's always a great canvas to work with and always in style. Like illegally blonde said its the pieces you place with the white that pop and you can always change to what you feel like, I also have had 3 toasters dependent on what mood I'm in, the white always gives me a blank canvas to work with :) I hope this helps, happy to help with anything you might need :)

Those tiles are beautiful so I see why you favour them. They appear to be very similar colour to your brick pattern tiles. I think the ideal situation is to have the same flooring in both areas since they are connected and for cohesion. Maybe others will provide a different solution so you can retain the brick tiles as well as having new tiles. Have you seen Smartstone Athena? It would go well with a grey laminate (I'll have a look what's on offer) and Hogs Bristle wall colour. There's also another stone that is similar to Athena but the veining is diff colour. I'll have a look.

i have not looked into the splashback pricing yet, as i am still stuck onto the colour fr the cabinets. we have to decide it tonight. I have been looking at warm whites, as suggested earlier in the thread. Antique white USA in 1/4 strength i think will go with the grey colored stone. I have read tht in full strength it throws cream tones. NOt sure if this colour scheme will work. i still have to decide the wall colours for the kitchen. We have finalised hog bristle1/4 for the living area with natural white for ceiling n trim.