Thanks :) All very good points. We thought about having the cabinet doors put in for the fridge but we personally haven't found them to be too practical in the past. Ones we've used haven't seemed to seal so well. We are also planning to upgrade the fridge in the next couple if years. Good thinking about placement of the microwave too. We have a power pack range built into the wall cabinets so unfortunately we can't put the microwave above the cooktop. I like the idea of the appliance cupboard being turned into a corner cupboard, although I'm unsure if that would mean that you then couldn't easily access it from the other side of the bench..? I'm hoping our kids will sit at the breakfast bar and make their own toast etc while keeping out of the kitchen itself.... I also wonder if we should have the wall cabinets all in the same line or if we could drop the usable ones, on either side of the power pack, down further to give us more storage....? And (I promise this is my last dilemma!) does anyone have any ideas on whether to place the 1/4 sink to the left or the right of the main sink? Again it's one of those things that I'm going around in circles about....next to the prep area vs next to the dishwasher.....? ...... Ahhhh decisions, decisions ;-) Thanks again

Try this. Hang the television to the right of the wood stove on the wall opposite the french doors. Use the wall with the high windows for a looong sofa and add two chairs across / angled slightly - low back so you can look over one to television. use console / sofa table on entry /bed door wall just past where entry door opens so you have a lay down surface. Forget glass, it isn't for this era and won't make it feel bigger. Paint ALL french doors inside and out and small windows and entry door same color and trim same color too. Try a charcoal rather than a black - something in the blue-green-gray shades like new providence navy. do all the walls in kitchen and living in a warm white - this tone has the wood as an undertone - http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/woodash then, for the cabinets . . do a bungalow thing and go deeper on the cabinets to a classic drabware tone - with the wood walls and floors / try bm bracken biscuit http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/brackenbiscuit these will all go together like gangbusters, keep it light and bright but interesting and work with a new blue green gray back door in a tone like bm beach glass http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/beachglass templeton gray as a counterpoint on some craigslist piece of furniture . . add warm undertone tan and oatmeal nubby tweed upholstery to start . . the teal navy gray will work with the black iron stove and accents without going black. start keeping the left door to the kitchen closed and get a door stop to hold the other one open permanently . . this will work because you need a little more wall to make the tv work well - in the kitchen, pull your table away from the wall just a tad - consider a padded bench on the wall to provide a kind of sitting space in there and put the chairs across - if you shift your television to the wall (high enough the heat is not an issue , you can still have big speakers work well - and remote the media equipment - run the wire and patch the holes. Hang it mid-height - eye level when you sit plus 15 degrees . . check out the amazing sconces you can put on the entry wall - shades of light petersik pendant with home-made trim wood brace to pump it out from the wall since the power is high? over the console? round wood table in middle - even a hd butcherblock round on a painted drum base in trim tone? With those tones - teal gray, biscuit, creamy off-white, muted blue-greens - paint your white chairs and a hand me down bench wythe blue and find a graphic sunbrella print with a little blue green, chocolate and orange for cushions and pad skirts with velcro at the table . . make a galvinized pipe leg / plank 1 x 12 / clear finish console for behind the door . . now you are cooking with gas . .

With the pantry being located where it is, it provides a opportunity to make it inbuilt and continue your bench top along. This would then provide more bench space and would make sure you are using that wall to its full potential. However for space and flow and to make your kitchen more ascetically pleasing, we would suggest keeping the island bench and making the appliances integrated. This provides opportunity to make that far wall a feature wall, which can be as simple as a blackboard or pictures, to making it a colour feature (depending on you cabinetry) or even to make it high class you could create a wood paneling feature. I hope this helps, either way you can add bonus features to your kitchen, you can create more storage and bench space with changing the pantry, or you could make a design feature out of that wall. It is up to you and where you design flair may take you. Good luck! :) If you would like to see these designs with a quote please call us on 03 423 9067 and we can organise a free one for you. Below are some pictures - in built pantry vs. feature wall. (making where the appliances are a low bench top with below cabinets). (goes beautifully with a black and white colour palette).

We have a 900x900 shower and it's plenty big enough. Neither of your proposed layouts looks that great, to be perfectly honest, sorry! In the first layout, you could improve it quite a lot by swapping the toilet and vanity (centre the toilet under the window on the bottom right of the picture if possible), and having the shower door on the other wall (beside the door). Then, you could have a towel rail on the wall beside the door (i.e. behind the door when it's open), which would be accessible from the shower but hidden when the door was open. An 800x1200 shower might be a good size for your space. You'd have to choose a toilet that doesn't protrude too far, plus a narrow vanity. With that layout, you could have a long but narrow wall-hung vanity, with a big mirror covering the wall between the windows, which would make the room feel bigger and would give a good amount of storage. Also, you may find this helpful: http://www.houseplanshelper.com/small-bathroom-floor-plans.html?utm_content=buffer4aa20&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer