try the above paint suggestion and think about adding paneling to the expose bar end and turn under the dark counter. It will be easier to wash off those shoe marks when kids kick, and you won't have clash if you maybe painted paneling same as wall. Test paint with poster board and see if you like it first. Lighting can really make a difference in the perception of colors, and might fix the "clash". Try warm or cold colored bulbs in those pot lights, and see what happens. good luck

Hi everyone, we have moved in! We didn't manage to paint before we moved and think we will go for a staged approach - above the wood panels first in a warm white then decide on the panels. I'm having a bit of trouble working out what kind of sofa to buy and how at arrange the lounge. All furniture except coffee table temporary in photos and would love some ideas!

Laughter is the best medicine. A person who laughs suffers from less anxiety and feels better all-round. Although scientists still don’t know exactly why we laugh, there’s lots of evidence that it has a beneficial effect. To take just one example: children who laugh a lot develop faster and better than their peers. We move 18 different muscles when we laugh. And while we’re laughing, our diaphragm massages our abdominal organs and supplies fresh oxygen to the brain. Applying this principle to interior design, we can say that décor that makes us smile also keeps us healthy. Here are a few amusing ideas that will bring more humour and individuality to your home. For men with a sense of fun Did you know that men with a sense of humour are more attractive to women? Studies by psychologists have found that women looking for a potential partner prefer men with a sense of humour because it is an indication of an active and healthy brain. Strangely enough, the opposite is not true: men don’t prefer witty women as partners. For a man, it seems to be more important that a woman can laugh at his jokes. In light of this, men (and especially those still looking for an ideal partner) would be well advised to furnish their homes with a few humorous extras. Why not opt for a white shark that leaps out of the living room wall, or a fitted sheet that turns the bed into a building site? Funny sayings as wall tattoos can also make women laugh. Why not give it a try! It’s important, of course, that you also think the decorations are funny. In fact, this is one of the few rules governing humorous home furnishings: it needs to be something you can laugh about as well. The unexpected What makes us laugh? On most occasions it’s something unusual or even impossible that tickles our funny bone. Most jokes are constructed to do exactly this, making a punchline out of something we didn’t anticipate. There might also be a touch of „schadenfreude“. Similarly, humorous interior accessories also aim to be something out of the ordinary: the lasso, for example, that appears to defy gravity by holding a wine bottle, or the table that only has two legs. The soap dispenser in the form of a giant nose is also something completely unexpected, just like the emergency release panel that contains an emergency bar of chocolate instead of a lever. Childhood memories These things don’t always need to elicit gales of laughter: just a smile is often enough to keep us feeling more cheerful. The trigger could be objects that remind us of pleasant things from our past – such as the light that resembles the Tetris game we used to play as teenagers, or the smiley floor lamp, or the giant yo-yo from the ’80s. Simply funny! Laughter researchers claim that we model our sense of humour on that of our parents. Depending on how its parents react, even a six-month old baby knows what’s funny and what is not. And this is probably also the reason why the Japanese, for example, laugh about different things than Europeans. Within a certain cultural group, however, most people tend to find the same type of things funny. When furnishing your house or flat with amusing accessories, then, you can’t really go far wrong. So let’s start bringing a little humour into our homes! Source: Humorous Home Décor | HARO Flooring New Zealand

Thanks for your comments everyone. We've taken your advice (Luke and NH) and changed the island to a rectangle (1200 x 3000). We lose one breakfast bar seat but gain storage and dining room space plus it shortens the distances from the island to the cooktops. It also removes the need for a corner carousel. We're much happier with this result. Dairy_maid, we've done what you suggested and walked through some common tasks. Overall it works reasonably well although we may keep some coffee spoons and butter knives in the scullery drawers for morning toast and coffee. We've also invested in a "silent" rangehood which has the motor on the outside of the house behind the fridge and we've upgraded the scullery sink to one that is 600 x 400 (internal size). Fabrication starts tomorrow. Woohoo. Once again, thanks so much for taking the time to respond. The design has been significantly improved with your input.