I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but if you're looking for suggestions whether to make the lower cabinets grey and the upper cabinets white or vice versa, then I would be tempted to make the lower cabinets grey. I think this would help to make the ceiling feel higher and the overall space larger and brighter. But, it may depend upon what style you're going for, whether you have an island benchtop and, if so, what material/colour will be on the rear/exposed side of the island benchtop, the amount of natural lighting, etc. You can easily search through Houzz photos by room, size, colour, materials, etc. Here are a few examples I found from a quick search which may help:

My son used to help me cook in the kitchen - he is 190 cm, I am 175cm. I have an old-fashioned breakfast bar which is raised above the level of the kitchen benchtop. My son would stand at the raised section, I would stand at the lower section, it worked really well. An alternative might be to have a pull out step in the kick board spaces for your wife to stand on - I don't know if it would be high enough, but it might make things more comfortable. Speaking from the point of view of a tall woman, I will have my next kitchen cupboards and laundry raised at least 10 cm to make my life more comfortable - bending forward for any length of time is seriously UN comfortable!

Hi I just thought I would leave a comment about the visibility of joins in reconstituted stone such as Caesarstone tops on islands longer than 3 metres. From a patern point of view; by selecting a style that has a fine grain certainly helps with reducing the visibility of a join. As for the join itself, the technology and tooling used to make such joints has come a long way in the last 10 years; therefore if you use a Kitchen Manufacturer who uses up-to-date stone fabrication methods, then such joins can be next to near invisible. Below is a kitchen we made with an Island that is over 4.3 metres long and has a join through the centre; where the join actually has to be pointed out to be seen. We have seen Kitchen Manufactures use the two height method but you really don't have to do this to achieve a long island. If you would like a long island, then you should not be put off by having to have a join; careful selection of your material, manufacturer and planning can achieve great results. Hope this helps anyone reading this article and the comments above.

Hi Carolyn, That's correct - marble is very porous and needs to be sealed every 12 months. Nowadays, there's a huge range of reconstituted stone options that require much less upkeep, but will still add that level of sophistication and class to your Hampton's style kitchen that you're looking for. Give Lithostone Calacatta Gold some consideration - our clients are loving it at the moment! Below are some photos of a project still underway (bear with me on photo quality), but it may help as they've also opted for Hampton's style and have used Lithostone Calacatta Gold as there benchtop (and splashback). If you have some time, check out our project St Kilda Apartment #2 which uses the same benchtop colour/material - Lithostone Quartz Surfaces have some great shots, too. Hope this helps, good luck with your project! Kitchens by Matric