Dear Azfar, I think your units are lovely, very sophisticated and much nicer than white. Your units and work tops are very similar to those I have in my kitchen, which also have black granite tops. I also have a wooden floor of a similar shade, please don't change this, it is lovely. I was aware when I had my kitchen fitted that the units appeared darker than in the showroom but this was due entirely to the colour of the walls they were installed on. To lift the units, and celebrate their beautiful colour, you should paint your walls a darker and contrasting colour, I have chosen a really shocking pink, Rock Candy, but there lots of options. The showroom I saw my units in used a burgundy colour, too dark for my Victorian kitchen. There are so many colour options which don't have to be expensive, play around with a few tester pots and see which you prefer. This is by far the cheapest option, and I'm sure you'll fall in love with your kitchen units again once your units are allowed to stand out. Incidentally your unit colour helps to visually integrate your stainless steel 'fridge, another reason to stick with it. If you want to add units in the future you could pick up on your new wall colour for a very stylish look.

(A) painting an alcove a particular colour that pleases you. (B) Having the Island section a different colour. (C) A decorative blind adds a spark. I am not specifying 'the colour' or 'the fabric design', they are just ideas to assist. (D) Imagine using an idea like this as a splash-back, it acts as a work of art - there are many interresting tile ideas.

Hi. I agree with jacksplash and Man About the House - hopefully OnePlan will find you, because I'm worried about your layout. Some of the figures are difficult for me to read on your floor plan but I'm thinking about all the doors and where they lead and the traffic flow of people. Is there room to get around things, especially, say if the fridge door is open? Can someone get by or do they walk in front of the oven? If someone's cooking, is there room? If someone is at the sink, can another person walk by? If people are sitting at the new rectangular dining table, can you get passed to that side door, the double doors, or the door to the stairs? With the big fridge in that spot I'd do a practice and erect cardboard boxes that equal the depth of the fridge and more that represent the island and see if there really is room for it all. Heres a helpful blurb in case OnePlan doesn't pop in: http://www.metric.org.uk/kitchen-planning (Maybe my username should be "killjoy"?!)

I would choose something very close to that deep red/rust/plum (can't quite work out what it is) in the granite. It looks as if that colour is also in the tea towel on the right (hanging on the handle in front of the oven). Everything else is so light I think the room would take it well and it would give it wow factor. You need a warm colour, as someone else has said, to tone with the cream of the cabinets and the granite.