Hi Ang, I thought I'd follow up my earlier comment with pictures of before and after of pine cupboards I specified to be painted in a budget makeover. My clients tell me people presumed they had purchased brand new cabinetry, so startling was the makeover. Somehow I have put the "after" on the left and "before" image on the right!

Your layout for you kitchen looks really good and would fit well with the mixture of black and white cabinetry. With the lament bench top, we would suggest melamine (entry level cabinetry) or acrylic bench top, which can come in high gloss feature or matt. The matt surface would go lovely with your choice of bench top, and acrylic is also a affordable cabinetry material. Below are some examples of how Reno4u has incorporated both black and white cabinetry together, without making it to dominantly dark. We feel as if these examples would be perfect for your layout, and depending on if you want more black cabinetry or white you can go either way. This design above is an example with more black than white, can be made matt or gloss with different handles/splash back and wallpaper. With a u shaped kitchen similar to yours, however from the pictures you provided your style may include different design below the island bench. Another kitchen designed by us which shows more white than black, with a bar built in which may suit your design better. We hope this helps you, please feel free to call us on 03 423 9067 and we can provide a free quote for materials and kitchen design, and help you finalise your design further. :)

When I was looking at systems for the kitchen that I have just put in nearly everyone told me to keep away from pull out pantry if for general use. The reason being that get too heavy and do not work properly. I have underbench pull outs for oils and spices etc. and that works well but you can feel the weight in it. All of my food items except opened bottles are in drawers including cans point their sides and I am very happy with how it functions. I do not have any pantry.

Hi, I think that you should consider all the other furnitures in the room (bed, bedside tables, desk chair etc.) as well as the room color and deco you already have. If you want to create a unity every pieces has to be connected somehow. Maybe you could take a picture of your bedroom :)