Thanks very much Pete_bon! Very important indeed that i take the aspect and soil type in to account and can only imagine there's a lot more to this process than drawing some pretty pictures. I embarked upon this i guess as a doodling exercise whilst awaiting the garden designer of my 'inspiration garden' to get in touch. I thought such an expert would be best placed to advice on the hardscaping but especially on the planting (after doing a site visit to my south-west facing garden on the westerly outskirts of London). However given that i'm still waiting (as i said already i'm impatient) and that i'm quite taken with the design JonathanB suggested, i reckon as far as hardscaping goes i'm actually seriously considering that layout. However given that i don't have a clue about plants or what goes where the suggestions on here are invaluable so I imagine i'll use this in conjunction with a gardener who can advise and come up with a planting plan for my actual garden. I'd never heard of the Beth Chatto Gardens before so just been having a look at their wonderful website, the gravel gardens you mention are particularly great and really does prove that with careful consideration there are lots of beautiful plants for each and every location. I'll take on-board your advice on height and on climbers in particular and am sure as long as things are 'strategically' placed i'll love their unruliness !

Hi Colette, in answer to your questions; American fridges are great if you have a family and need to refrigerate a lot of produce however they are quite bulky and tend to stand proud of the depth of the worktops and cabinets. An integrated fridge freezer may be enough in terms of storage and this will free up some space for you. The sink looks great where you have it. If you have the drainer on the left then it will give you some elbow room. Downdraft extractors are great for islands as they as so discreet. Personally I don't like large canopy extractors, they're a fairly ugly feature. The run of skinny wall units above the sink looks a little odd, especially with the one longer unit to the right. Also, the units above the fridge freezer will be very hard to access. If you can bear to lose this storage space I think it would look better without the cupboards and maybe have some bespoke shelves instead, something a little different....there's plenty of inspiration on Houzz. Happy to help again if you're stuck, I know how tricky some kitchens are to plan as there's a lot to consider. Best regards Caroline

I would recommend SketchUp all day long! A lot of the lesser software types don't have the same level of functionality and compatibility. Especially when you've been using them for a while - you end up becoming frustrated and outgrowing them. Gina, I'm about to launch an online SketchUp course to help Interior Design professionals create their own floor plans. You're welcome to complete my survey, if you're interested in this. There are already 54 Interior Designers signed up! I've also attached some photo-real 3D visuals I've created using SketchUp and Maxwell Render. Anita

Exciting times- I think side by side ovens have more presence and the island is a great place for the microwave. I don’t like seeing a microwave high up as I think it is dangerous. In fact you should put your ovens at a really comfortable height for you. I notice all of the designs show a draining board- personally I would choose an undermounted sink and no drainer to maximise work surface. I agree about putting the extractor in a cupboard- it doesn’t have to be a 600 cupboard though- I think it looks more luxurious if it is 20cm bigger than the hob. Consider if the 70/30 fridge planned is big enough. You could have a larder sized fridge and a freezer elsewhere. All of your designs show the breakfast bar sitting in an Lshape at the end of the bar- Personally I think that you should have the stools on the long side of the island so that they can see the TV, so you don’t have to have a cheap looking metal pedestal and so the stools don’t obstruct the sofa in the TV area. You have also shown the breakfast bar in a different material- if you want to use the island for food prep it might be easier to use and to keep clean if there are no differences in height and it is all the same material. If you want variety of materials in the kitchen you might choose two different cabinet finishes- perhaps one could be textured. I noticed the glass cabinets on one design- I would be careful about their placement because of getting steamed up. Lastly I felt the the designs with lots of vertical lines made the room seem smaller and I preferred the designs with uninterrupted horizontal lines.