If you want the wall and floor tiles to be the hero in your bathroom I recommend you keep the vanity very simple. The white cabinet you have will be least obtrusive with a 'white' top. I love the elegance of stone and man-made stone is generally more durable. Check out Caesarstone Organic White or Frosty Carina. Although Frosty Carina has more pattern than Organic White, it's quite discrete so shouldn't compete with pattern on the tiles. If the tiles are charcoal or a dark brown/grey then either should work. Love to see a photograph when it's finished, whatever you decide.

@jmm1837, My appologies firstly to the author for being off topic. One house I lived in didn't have plaster anywhere, just pressboard for walls, the stuff notice boards are made from, so we wall papered as paint soaked in by the bucket load. then lived in a caravan and now a little relocatable cottage, a glorified caravan without wheels I say but now hubby and I are building our dream home, I have no decor or design education and have simply done my best with the plan and now the build. Great advice about making the home, warm, comfortable etc...and I'm doing what I want and not following trends BUT unfortunately at times I am truly paralized by indicision, too many choices of everything from interior colours to simple door handles and when I put my head down to sleep, my mind goes into overdrive, sleeping at times only a few hours a night ha-ha Still enjoying the process but it isn't that simple to follow your suggestions!!! I'm sure as the home progresses, with less decisions to make, it will become easier.

oklouise thanks for the ideas. We have actually really thought about the zoning. We want the two bedrooms on the southern side with a bathroom between for privacy. We also want the eastern lounge room to pop out as a dining room in that spot will waste a gorgeous view. We had a straight alfresco and thought it was all a bit hohum. I will attach the first and second drafts to see where we have come from. The first draft we had drawn was too boring for us ... Garry hated draft 2 as he thought it was too wide for solar access and didn't give cross ventilation (north to south or vv). It's only positive was the flow of west/east cross ventilation. Also the bathroom was too tucked away for guest use when we are using that nice alfresco area. We quickly scrapped all those ideas... LOL As I said, we like skillion roof lines and are planning on clerestory windows to maximise northern sun. Some raked ceilings will probably happen too (and definitely 9 foot ceilings in living areas). the mudroom/laundry will probably be incorporated into the hallway. Unlike some on this forum previously I don't object to entering through the laundry. It kind of gives a landing spot for groceries from the car on those cold days you don't want to leave the whole house open. The garage may actually be a carport to ensure we can have ventilation come through that way and to help us with budget.

Hi Alex and Christie, I am installing a kitchen this week using a product I have used before and that I really like. It's Mirostone - a 100% acrylic product which feels and looks just like the reconstituted stone - it even feels cold like stone - yet it's much cheaper than any reconstituted stone I have found. Being 100% acrylic it's not porous which also means it's very hygienic. It's resilient to marks and staining so will be good for rolling out pastry dough. However, it should be treated with care like any benchtop and a chopping board or hot surface board used when required. Marks and stains can be easily sand-papered away - that's right, sandpaper - but because the stone colour goes through to the base, you aren't left with a discoloured patch. It only comes in 7 colours from white to grey, but it's a really nice product. I believe it is available Australia-wide from the distributors in Adelaide (where I am based). Good luck. Cheers, Penelope