Appreciate all the feedback, thanks everyone! Yes caesarstone is what our builder includes. Its the statuario nuvo (marble look) caesarstone that I would have loved but after finding out it would be about $4k-$5k more than the 'snow' caesarstone pictured above we realised that wasn't an option for us unfortunately. We are building so I guess we're a bit limited by the companies our builder uses. The cabinetry is polytec melamine range (riga salt pictured above). They do have shaker style cabinets in their thermo laminated range but were told it would cost quite a lot more. Will have to ask for a more specific quote and see just how much extra it will be. Ultimately if budget weren't a factor I would do timber look flooring, marble bench tops, marble or white subway splashback, and white shaker style cabinets. So I guess I'll just have to try and get as close as I can to that look with our budget.

Hi Cathy, Yes, I think you would be fine to have matt black cupboards near your oven to help hide it a little. You will probably need to balance the black with having it elsewhere - maybe even your overhead cupboards, if it connects to the oven tower(?). Plans would make it easier to comment. I would tend to avoid bringing in another colour (such as blue), though you can use a marble tile or textured white tile as your splashback to reinforce the colour scheme. Good luck with the decisions - it's a very exciting time. I'm happy to have a look at your plans if you can upload them. Regards, Cathy (Bespoke Home Building)

Hello again, thank you for the input. I've taken it all on board. Regarding the island, we will be sticking with Knights Grey but if we choose a very dark floorboard, we will then switch to Timeless Grey (which happened to be one of the swatches I'd picked up anyway!) to avoid that sinking effect. Thanks for the tip. I won't be able to get back out this week to check the Dulux Raku colour, did I mention that I'm getting around with a 1 month old and 2 year old? They are totally dictating my schedule! Ann I'm not sure exactly how they get half strength. I just have the understanding that paint looks darker on a wall than it does on the sample card so to always opt for a lighter shade to counter that effect. So to avoid the Snowy Mountains colour looking too dark, I will go for a half strength. Worst case, I figure, is that it will just be a touch lighter than what I'd expected. There wasn't consistency between the three separate Snowy Mountains cards that I ended up with so I guess it's to be expected anyway. Thanks for sharing your experience Antonia, it's good to know it works. Today I went out to Beaumont Tiles to try and find a tile like the one I attached to my original post. This was surprisingly difficult to match and I've borrowed a sample of the closest match from the store to mull it over. The colour seems to work quite well against all my samples but I'm worried about the wavy edge and how it will appear on the wall when grouted. On the one hand I'm worried it will look too busy or untidy, on the other hand I think it could be a winner because it could add some depth or interest to an otherwise boring subway tile splash back. I've attached the tile against my samples and also Tranquil Retreat (half strength) wall with Vivid White trim. Please tell me what you think :)

We're renovating our kitchen and are at decision time to decide on benchtops etc. I'd love any opinions or advice on the colour scheme we're considering as we're not sure if it will all go together and it's a big chunk of money, so we want to get it right! :-/ The kitchen is a smallish U shape with a breakfast bar which opens to the lounge room. There's limited natural light so we want it to be as light as poss. The cupboards will be all white poly, floorboards are white sand engineered bamboo, walls are quarter strength tranquil retreat. For the splashback we're looking at carrara marble hexagonal tiles, benchtop - caserstone intense white and cupboard colour lexicon half or quarter or possibly vivid white (satin finish). We like the pure white of the intense white benchtops but not sure if it will compete with the splashback tiles (although the texture is very fine). Any opinions/other ideas?? Also not sure on which white to go with for the cupboard doors - leaning towards Lexicon half. Photos below of the floorboards, carrara splashback tiles, caesarstone intense white benchtop and paint samples. If anyone can offer any opinion or advise on this selection or other alternatives we could consider it would be really appreciated!