Hello headers13, Looking nice! Not much of a mess at all! Normally I'd suggest the idea of dark chimney breast and lighter walls.. Since you have dark cabinets going in then perhaps consider the other way around.. Usually alcoves are better lighter as they then look further away.. Chimney breast to the fore.. Standing out with a beautiful mirror.... I normally don't recommend shelving in alcoves either.. Just a personal taste.. However.... What about approaching it with the idea of scale colouring.. with dark at bottom and working it's way lighter up the shelves.... So you could have dark chimney breast and dark bottom shelves and gradually take the shades up till you get to a creamy white at the top... Ceilings are really gr8 in Whitening by Little Greene.. It would give it a different feel and this style of painting is really in.... You can do it with walls too, see image... Also to lighten the look of the shelving... consider darker and fuller shelves at the bottom and lighten towards the top... This creates the idea of openness with the shelving, thus giving the fireplace the focal point it deserves... : ))

Sal, Your kitchen looks beautiful! Its such a pain having to choose colours but I guess its definately worth it at the end. Going to order some test pots today and try as suggested. I like the feel mellow mocha gave to your kitchen - bounces back light and the contrast on the other side of the wall - the copper blush! Looking at doing something similar but want whatever colour I choose to flow through our lounge (its open plan) without 'breaking' the feel- if you get what I mean! Thanks, will defo post pics once done.

Hi I have just fitted these last week and they look really good. They are a strange colour and actualy apear a bit beige / gold as well as white. The thing about these tiles is you need strong lighting to get light to reflect off them for full effect. Unfortunately if you dont fully tile you will not get the effect . If you message me I can send photos of the job I have just done. These tiles are ultra high gloss so are not going to sit well with matt paint. You will need a lot of match pots to find an ideal colour!

Thanks Colour Happy. Plasterer has been in already but only plastered where needed so I'm assuming that means we don't need to plaster behind wall paper (some of which had to be removed for the rewiring) and Painter seems happy enough to do remainder of filling/smoothing walls but thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check again with them. Re sisal, no dogs but small kids at home so need to stick to softer/more standard carpet!