Hi, We suggest a central - dimmable pendant light - maybe the Kartell Fly Pendant http://www.williedugganlighting.com/shop/index.php?route=product/search&filter_name=kartell in a good colour? Remember that this central light will only assist with the basic light levels, you need to then add accent and task lighting such as tall reading lights etc. It's always best to think of overall light first, followed by task light, followed by mood lighting. Once you have good lighting you'll always wonder how you managed without! We've loads of lights in a wide range of budgets to suit and we're always happy to advise. Good luck with your plan! http://www.williedugganlighting.com

If a room is North facing it cast a bluish light. This means that anything with a greyish blue tinge (very fashionable) will look dreary. To counteract the bluish light there are three things to consider; how reflective the paints/surfaces are how 'warm' the paints and surfaces are how saturated the paints and surfaces are. It seems to be that to negate the dreary light you need to use colours with a tinge of warmth such as a yellow or red base, and/or go for saturation. Strong saturated colours won't lighten the room, but they will stop it feeling sad. Warm LEDs will also help, but of course it's increasing natural light that you want. Will the parquet flooring be going in the kitchen too?

Thank-you very much for the comments. I hope it will be a great space, but playing around with it and changing the design at the last minute is getting a bit stressful! This is the design that the build company showed us initially - just their initial thought as it how it would look. I found feeling the area where they had positioned the fridge/freezer very tricky. We want a free-standing french larder style fridge and the doors and level of matching with the rest of the units didn't seem like a good fit. The support pillar for the steel that crosses the island in the attachment below has also been a real annoyance. It sticks out 23cm, so it can only really go through empty-ish cupboards. Clearly anything to the left of that steel is difficult to vent. On the design in my intitial post, I was intending to have a dropped ceiling element that stretched just beyond the steel. This would let me have a powerful extractor and exit the flew onto the flat room (hidden by the drop ceiling 'box'). I like the idea you describe of a full wall of units, then island, then table. I guess Jonathan's proposal is similar to that. While I love the efficiency of the "4 double door" hideaway I just don't like the aesthetic, so will need to think about something else. Bringing it back to what we need... Utility room: enough to stash the washing machine, store the vacuum cleaner and hang a few clothes. No need for a sink. Free Standing, 90cm wide fridge, nicely framed either by wall of kitchen units. Waist height oven with an additional "top oven / grill (broiler)" - so at least one full height column. Good size kitchen island with at least two seats. Approx 90cm induction hob, plus a gas domino hob. Powerful, externally venting extractor over hob. I'm relatively open to moving the kitchen/living area to wherever it works best. I'm also not desperate to have the hob on the island (but that would be nice). As far as I know, the builders haven't done anything that can't be easily adjusted at this stage - but I think that will change in a couple of days - and they are planning for the kitchen to be in the old part of the house. As for rooflights - I thought, perhaps wrongly, that it would be light enough with the big bifold doors. It is an east facing room, and the old room had some sliding paitio doors and it felt bright enough. So I have left roof lights out on the basis that - but I'm also concerned about noise. (Cheaper too!). The biggest window we can gave without incurring significantly more cost is 1800mm x 1000mm - I'm minded to be 2 or 3 of these in that middle section. Thanks!

Just on the rough guide of the measurements:- I like the idea of the table in the kitchen, but then it makes the space smaller and i'm not sure what you could use the extra space for free'd up by the dining room. The french doors are nice, but they aren't best placed for light in the whole of the downstairs. Like this:- I personally, think that this arrangement is better. The whole entrance to the lounge and storage cupboard thing needs amending, it's a weird mish mash of angles that don't help much. So, I rectified that, created a coat cupboard, a pantry with entry from the kitchen, a small utility so that the entry to the bathroom isn't straight in to the kitchen etc. I moved the double french doors to the middle of the wall to get light straight through from front to back. Kept the kitchen larger, kept the dining area as such etc.