I don't know how handy you are (or if you have handy friends) but what about chalkboard? It looks like your cabinets are quite light and your counters are a darker gray. What if you covered the tile with chalkboard panels cut to fit exactly between the upper and lower cabinets? In the area to the left of the sink, the cutting might be a bit more difficult but definitely doable. Keep on going behind the stove and around the corner. Just cap the chalkboard with a trim piece and velcro it in place.

How about have the central units/island going a bit longer to separate the kitchen and dining room a little more and don't put the extra cabinets on the right hand side wall which seem to invade into the sitting room area. In an open plan setting it's always good to maintain definition between the spaces. So keep your sitting room area clearly that & lengthen the central island in your kitchen. It'll look lovely

We use an A4 sized acrylic letter rack for leaflets, catalogues etc. in the kitchen and go through it once it gets too full. Amazing the stuff that I hang on to unnecessarily! But it does help to keep track of stuff that needs something to be done in the near future. Bills etc. go straight onto the study desk. What really does irritate me though is the accumulation of newspapers and magazines which end up on the kitchen worktop. I'm going to treat us to a nice wall mounted rack soon.

Thank you everyone, I sincerely appreciate all your interest and advice. Since I posted last week the electrician has installed a piece of kit that allows one of the circuits of 12 spots to dim to dark. It's called a Hamilton GRID-IT LED dimmer. The same piece of kit has not worked for the other circuit of 18 spots. As instructed by my electrician I have returned the fitting to get a replacement as he thinks it may be faulty. We will try again next week. I have attached a photo of as much of the ceiling for you to see for yourselves. Jonathan, thank you so much. The ceiling is the bog standard 'Brilliant White' but the walls are Farrow and Ball 'Strong White' which is a very pale grey which has helped reduce the dazzle. I will look into toning down the ceiling too. I hadn't thought of that, so thanks again. Clever, thanks for all your interest. I can't find the technical details of the spot or the dimmer but have attached a photo of the spot. As mentioned above, only the circuit of 18 in the extension doesn't dim to dark now, but the electrician is going to try and fit a replacement dimmer next week. Thank you so much. Source, thank you, I did wonder if that is possible. I'm not sure if my budget can stretch to that but in some ways I think that would be the best solution. I will ask my very patient builder to quote. Thanks again.