We got the IKEA shelves that are pictured in the butlers pantry photo I posted when we were on holiday in Melbourne, Australia. We don't have IKEA here in New Zealand! Hubby is going back over in May/June so will get him to get more of that sort of thing when there. We would pay about 4x the price for that sort of thing here in NZ. I need to work out what I will do now where the fridge was and there is the angle change (does that make sense?).

I would love the rocking chair too, but way too expensive for me, unfortunately!! Yellow could be good... hmmm, will have a look, thanks

Hi Dalene, the colour is technically not black but a dark charcoal grey. Anything in that colour tone paired with a timber benchtop will steer towards that industrial look - just use a lighter shade of a cool grey (similar to the one in the Garden St Residence) and perhaps bring in some black accents in the tapware and drawer handles for some punch.

Teal sounds beautiful for your splashback, I love vibrant and bright colours in the kitchen - you never see them enough! I think your worries are right as well, dark carpet and a dark bench would be too much darkness - a lighter benchtop would work well with the other colours! Marble is a classic for benchtops, but depending on how you did the wood, it wouldn't look fake at all! What did you decide on doing?