Kitchen renovation · South East Queensland

Design options
considered

Everything that was drawn, rendered and put aside. Kept because a decision is only worth as much as what it was chosen over - and because any of them can be brought back in an afternoon. Every option on this page uses the same measured room, the same island at 2900 × 1110, the same five appliances and the same cabinet layout. What changes is the colour, the island door profile, the benchtop stone and how the island ends. Each option below has a short description, then pros and cons.

Prepared23 August 2026
Room3797 × 2930 × 2480
Island2900 × 1110
Bench height900
ViewsDay and evening
Walk the kitchen in 3D →Orbit the modelPlans & elevationsMaterials & spec
09

Blush Cream

Alabaster throughout, black benchtop, printed glass splashback

Blush Cream in daylight Blush Cream at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

polytec Alabaster on every cabinet - a warm off-white with a slight pink tone. Black benchtop and a printed glass splashback.

One cabinet colour, no two-tone, so the appliances are the only dark objects in the room.

Why this one

The warmest option and the most forgiving day to day. Matt cream shows fingerprints less than the other finishes here, which matters on handleless doors that are pushed open by hand.

The black benchtop ties in the dark ASKO glass and the LG's black stainless, so the appliances sit with the scheme rather than standing out from it.

What is wrong with it

  1. It is the safest combination in Australia right now. Cream-and-black is everywhere in 2026, and it will date the way white-and-black always does. That is not a reason to avoid it - it is a reason to choose it knowingly.
  2. The black top is the single biggest light-eater available, in a kitchen that has no window of its own. Everything else here is fighting to keep the room bright; this works against that.
  3. Vanilla Noir is MINERAL, so it is resin-bound and heat-limited. Trivets become a permanent habit, not an occasional courtesy.
  4. Alabaster's exact colour is UNRESOLVED. polytec's web swatch is a flat fill with its red channel clipped, and it reads yellow where their own description says pink. Nothing independent has looked at it - the render is a provisional middle position, not a match. Hold a chip under this room's light before signing anything off.

Cost: The least expensive option. One cabinet colour, one stone, no timber, no specials.

The specification
Back run — basesAlabaster
Back run — overheadsAlabaster
Oven tower & fridgeAlabaster
Island — working sideAlabaster
Island — seating sideAlabaster
BenchtopCaesarstone 5100 Vanilla Noir
SplashbackPrinted glass — Caesarstone 507 Marbannova, printed large
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The seating side
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
10

Blush Cream — Glass Cabinets

One island bay glazed and lit, for glassware

Blush Cream — Glass Cabinets in daylight Blush Cream — Glass Cabinets at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

Blush Cream with the middle of the island's three display bays glazed and lit. The door is a polytec thermolaminated door frame, so the frame is the same Alabaster as every other front and only the panes differ. Door Frame 1, Type A: one aperture, no glazing bars.

Inside, three adjustable glass shelves and an LED strip at the top, concealed behind the head rail. Champagne flutes and wine glasses.

Why this one

The island's display side is 2900mm of unbroken door facing the dining room, and in this direction it is deliberately flat and quiet. One lit aperture in the centre gives that face a focus without touching the working side or the back run.

Glassware is the one thing in a kitchen worth displaying: it is already glass, so light passes through it rather than stopping at it.

What is wrong with it

  1. HEIGHT. 720mm internal, which is the hard limit however the shelves are split. A single aperture frees their positions, so a 260 / 235 / 205 split suits flutes, large wine and tumblers. Burgundy bowls at 240-260 fit one tier only. Measure the glasses first.
  2. PUSHING GLASS. Every front here is handleless and push-to-open, so this door is opened by pressing the pane. Accepted: it is a display cabinet, opened rarely.
  3. HINGES. polytec advise that hinges are visible through transparent glass. With a clear pane and a lit interior they will be seen.
  4. IT STAYS ON SHOW. A lit glass cabinet cannot be shut on a mess.
  5. ONE MORE CIRCUIT. The strip needs a driver and a switched supply - licensed electrician - and belongs on the same dimmed scene as the other accent lighting.

Cost: The smallest variation here: one glazed door in place of a solid one, three toughened glass shelves, an LED strip and driver, and an addition to the island's existing electrical run. Indicative for scoping only, never a quote.

The specification
Back run — basesAlabaster
Back run — overheadsAlabaster
Oven tower & fridgeAlabaster
Island — working sideAlabaster
Island — seating sideAlabaster
BenchtopCaesarstone 5100 Vanilla Noir
SplashbackPrinted glass — Caesarstone 507 Marbannova, printed large
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The seating side
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
11

Harbour

Navy island, warm off-white back run

Harbour in daylight Harbour at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

polytec Britannia on the island - a solid dark navy in matt. It reads as near-black across the room and clearly blue close up.

The back run stays Alabaster so the working wall keeps its light under the overheads. Benchtop is New Marquina: black with a hard white vein, which carries the island's weight onto the back run without repeating the navy.

Why this one

The only option with a colour in it, and the only one where the island reads as a piece of furniture. From the dining side - the view this house actually has of the kitchen - you see a dark, plain object under a stone top.

Navy also dates less than sage or terracotta, which tie a kitchen to the year it was fitted.

What is wrong with it

  1. NAVY IS A COMMITMENT. Repainting is not an option - these are wrapped MDF doors and changing your mind means new doors. Get a Britannia sample and live with it on the bench for a week before it is ordered.
  2. IT WANTS LIGHT. In a windowless kitchen a dark island can go heavy after dark. The kick LED is doing real work here and should not be value- engineered out; it lifts the island off the floor and stops it reading as a block.
  3. ONLY ONE MATT NAVY EXISTS. Britannia is the whole option - polytec make no other dark blue in a thermolaminated matt finish. If the sample is wrong there is nothing to move to within the range, and the direction has to become Cinder or Ferro, which is a different scheme.
  4. Matt navy shows dust more than a mid-grey does. It is a wipe, not a problem, but it is a wipe you will do.

Cost: Indicative only, and it moves - never a quote. This sits mid-range and is the cheapest to build: two colours, both standard stock, no timber, no special edge. The stone is the variable, as it always is.

The specification
Back run — basesAlabaster
Back run — overheadsAlabaster
Oven tower & fridgeAlabaster
Island — working sideBritannia
Island — seating sideBritannia
BenchtopNew Marquina AC2029
SplashbackBack-painted glass, plain
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The seating side
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
12

Quiet Contrast

Pale perimeter, one dark island

Quiet Contrast in daylight Quiet Contrast at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

Every wall element - bases, overheads, oven tower - is chalk, the same value as the walls, so the perimeter recedes. The island is the only dark mass in the room: warm charcoal on both faces.

Benchtop and splashback are the same stone, warm white with fine gold veining, running continuously from the bench up the wall. That is what makes the back run read as one surface.

Why this one

The best answer for this particular room. The kitchen is long, internal and has no window of its own; a pale perimeter with one strong object in front of it feels larger than a two-tone scheme.

The pale benchtop is also the right way round for chips. On a dark porcelain or sintered top a chip shows as a white mark; on a pale one the body underneath is the same colour.

What is wrong with it

  1. A dark island in a room with no daylight of its own is a real bet. It works here because everything else is pale and the LED layers carry it - but it depends on the lighting actually being built as drawn, not value-engineered.
  2. A pale benchtop shows coffee, turmeric and red wine in a way black never does. Non-porous surfaces clean up, but you will see it first.
  3. The most restrained option. If you want the kitchen itself to be the event, this one deliberately refuses to be.

Cost: Mid. Two cabinet colours and one stone used twice - the continuous splashback costs stone, not labour.

The specification
Back run — basesNew Classic White
Back run — overheadsNew Classic White
Oven tower & fridgeNew Classic White
Island — working sideFerro
Island — seating sideFerro
BenchtopCaesarstone 507 Marbannova
SplashbackPrinted glass — Caesarstone 507 Marbannova, printed large
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The seating side
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
13

Deep Base — Bar

Dark below, pale above, with a two-seat bar on the island's window end

Deep Base — Bar in daylight Deep Base — Bar at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

Deep Base with a 300mm stone overhang on the west end of the island - the end facing the window - and two stools beneath it.

The island runs 2700 rather than 2900 and sits 900 clear of the pantry wall; the stone runs 3020, still a single piece. The display side divides into three identical 900 cupboards. Finishes are unchanged from Deep Base.

Why this one

Seating on a long face costs the cupboards on that face. Seating on the end costs 300mm of island length and nothing else, so all three display cupboards survive.

Facing east from the end, anyone sitting there looks down the length of the island toward the sink - beside the work rather than opposite it.

What is wrong with it

  1. DRAWER WIDTH. The main drawer bank goes from 1050 to 850 - the only bay that can give, since the bin, sink and dishwasher are set by their appliances.
  2. 300 IS BOTH LIMITS. The minimum knee depth for stool seating at a 900mm bench, and the maximum a 20mm top will cantilever unsupported. No margin either way, and this is seating: the fabricator should confirm the detail.
  3. A PERCH, NOT A DINING SEAT. Knees go under 300mm and meet the end panel.
  4. MORE STONE. 3020 against 2940, still a single slab.

Cost: No additional cabinetry and one fewer drawer front, against a longer stone and two stools. The overhang may require steel flat bar in the underside, a fabrication line item rather than a joinery one. Indicative for scoping only, never a quote.

The specification
Back run — basesCinder
Back run — overheadsNew Classic White
Oven tower & fridgeNew Classic White
Island — working sideCinder
Island — seating sideCinder
BenchtopVadara Sereno Bianco V881
SplashbackBack-painted glass, plain
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The benchtop, sink and island fronts, from the cook's side
The benchtop, sink and island fronts, from the cook's side — evening
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower — evening
The seating side
The seating side — evening
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
Walking in from the stairs — evening
14

Blush Cream — Bar

A two-seat bar on the island's window end

Blush Cream — Bar in daylight Blush Cream — Bar at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

Blush Cream with a 300mm stone overhang on the west end of the island - the end facing the window - and two stools beneath it.

Putting the bar on the END rather than along a face is what makes it work: all three display cupboards survive intact. The island shortens from 2900 to 2700 and sits 900 clear of the pantry wall; the stone runs 3020, still a single piece. The display side divides into three identical 900 cupboards.

Why this one

Seating on a long face costs the cupboards on that face. Seating on the end costs 300mm of island length and nothing else.

Facing east from the end, anyone sitting there looks down the length of the island toward the sink - beside the work rather than opposite it, which is the better orientation for talking to someone who is cooking.

What is wrong with it

  1. DRAWER WIDTH. The main drawer bank goes from 1050 to 850. It is the only bay that can give: the bin, sink and dishwasher widths are all set by the appliances. This is the clearest cost of the option.
  2. 300 IS BOTH LIMITS. It is the minimum knee depth for stool seating at a 900mm bench, and the maximum a 20mm top will cantilever unsupported. There is no margin either way, and this is seating. The fabricator should confirm the detail; steel flat bar housed into the underside is the usual answer and it changes the cabinet detail.
  3. A PERCH, NOT A DINING SEAT. Knees go under 300mm and meet the end panel. Right for a drink and a conversation; the dining table remains the place to eat.
  4. MORE STONE. 3020 against 2940. Still one slab, but stone is priced per slab.

Cost: No additional cabinetry and one fewer drawer front, against a longer stone and two stools. The overhang may require steel flat bar in the underside, which is a fabrication line item rather than a joinery one. Indicative for scoping only, never a quote.

The specification
Back run — basesAlabaster
Back run — overheadsAlabaster
Oven tower & fridgeAlabaster
Island — working sideAlabaster
Island — seating sideAlabaster
BenchtopCaesarstone 5100 Vanilla Noir
SplashbackPrinted glass — Caesarstone 507 Marbannova, printed large
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The seating side
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
15

Harbour — Bar

A navy island against a warm off-white wall, with a two-seat bar on the window end

Harbour — Bar in daylight Harbour — Bar at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

Harbour with a 300mm stone overhang on the west end of the island - the end facing the window - and two stools beneath it.

The island runs 2700 rather than 2900 and sits 900 clear of the pantry wall; the stone runs 3020, still a single piece. The display side divides into three identical 900 cupboards. Finishes are unchanged from Harbour.

Why this one

Seating on a long face costs the cupboards on that face. Seating on the end costs 300mm of island length and nothing else, so all three display cupboards survive.

Facing east from the end, anyone sitting there looks down the length of the island toward the sink - beside the work rather than opposite it.

What is wrong with it

  1. DRAWER WIDTH. The main drawer bank goes from 1050 to 850 - the only bay that can give, since the bin, sink and dishwasher are set by their appliances.
  2. 300 IS BOTH LIMITS. The minimum knee depth for stool seating at a 900mm bench, and the maximum a 20mm top will cantilever unsupported. No margin either way, and this is seating: the fabricator should confirm the detail.
  3. A PERCH, NOT A DINING SEAT. Knees go under 300mm and meet the end panel.
  4. MORE STONE. 3020 against 2940, still a single slab.

Cost: No additional cabinetry and one fewer drawer front, against a longer stone and two stools. The overhang may require steel flat bar in the underside, a fabrication line item rather than a joinery one. Indicative for scoping only, never a quote.

The specification
Back run — basesAlabaster
Back run — overheadsAlabaster
Oven tower & fridgeAlabaster
Island — working sideBritannia
Island — seating sideBritannia
BenchtopNew Marquina AC2029
SplashbackBack-painted glass, plain
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The seating side
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
16

Quiet Contrast — Bar

The room disappears and the island becomes an object, with a two-seat bar on the window end

Quiet Contrast — Bar in daylight Quiet Contrast — Bar at dusk
The kitchen has no window of its own, so daylight is borrowed from the glazing beyond. Switch to evening to see what the LED layers actually do — that is when this room is mostly used.
Walk in → Orbit the model

Quiet Contrast with a 300mm stone overhang on the west end of the island - the end facing the window - and two stools beneath it.

The island runs 2700 rather than 2900 and sits 900 clear of the pantry wall; the stone runs 3020, still a single piece. The display side divides into three identical 900 cupboards. Finishes are unchanged from Quiet Contrast.

Why this one

Seating on a long face costs the cupboards on that face. Seating on the end costs 300mm of island length and nothing else, so all three display cupboards survive.

Facing east from the end, anyone sitting there looks down the length of the island toward the sink - beside the work rather than opposite it.

What is wrong with it

  1. DRAWER WIDTH. The main drawer bank goes from 1050 to 850 - the only bay that can give, since the bin, sink and dishwasher are set by their appliances.
  2. 300 IS BOTH LIMITS. The minimum knee depth for stool seating at a 900mm bench, and the maximum a 20mm top will cantilever unsupported. No margin either way, and this is seating: the fabricator should confirm the detail.
  3. A PERCH, NOT A DINING SEAT. Knees go under 300mm and meet the end panel.
  4. MORE STONE. 3020 against 2940, still a single slab.

Cost: No additional cabinetry and one fewer drawer front, against a longer stone and two stools. The overhang may require steel flat bar in the underside, a fabrication line item rather than a joinery one. Indicative for scoping only, never a quote.

The specification
Back run — basesNew Classic White
Back run — overheadsNew Classic White
Oven tower & fridgeNew Classic White
Island — working sideFerro
Island — seating sideFerro
BenchtopCaesarstone 507 Marbannova
SplashbackPrinted glass — Caesarstone 507 Marbannova, printed large
Materials
Cabinetry
Surfaces
The cook's view - hob, splashback, oven tower
The seating side
The whole room, from the dining end
The whole room, from the dining end — evening
Walking in from the stairs
Common to all five

What does not change, and what is still open

Already decided

  • Bench at 900 with a 20mm top. Tested on an adjustable desk — 900 and 920 were indistinguishable, so the standard height wins as a tiebreak rather than as a requirement. That matters: a 30mm stone puts the bench at 910 and a 40mm one at 920, and because the cabinets never move, nothing below the benchtop changes at any of them.
  • Oven stack starts at 700. Your current height, which you confirmed works. Dropping it to 590 would mean bending, for both of you.
  • No handles anywhere. Push-to-open throughout. Wipe-clean was the number one ask, and a routed finger-pull is a crumb trap.
  • Drawers only on the island and back run. Cupboards only where they are tall.
  • Concealed rangehood — which is why the splashback becomes the feature of that wall.
  • Induction, not gas. No gas fitter, no gas clearances.
  • Floor held constant at Tranquility Teak in all five, so you are comparing directions and nothing else. The floor is a whole-ground-floor decision, including the stairs, and deserves its own comparison afterwards.

Still to decide

  • The feature light. Deliberately not drawn. Nothing is chosen yet, and putting a generic fitting over the island would push you toward a shape by accident. What you see is the recessed downlights you already have.
  • Benchtop material class. Mineral versus sintered is a heat and chip-risk decision, separate from colour. Mineral is resin-bound and heat-limited — trivets forever. Sintered is heat-proof and full-body. Porcelain is the one to rule out on a dark top, because a chip shows white.
  • Sink: Franke Maris 720 or 520.
  • The west bulkhead leg — whether it can come out. That is the borescope. The north band over the island carries plumbing and the retrofitted AC duct, and is not negotiable.
  • Suppliers. Nothing can be priced until that list arrives and every product on it is screened.
If none of these is quite right: the palette holds two finishes none of these use — a muted olive-grey and a warm clay. Any of them can be swapped into any direction, because all five are built from one model with only the finish layer changed. Say which direction is closest and what is wrong with it, and the next version takes minutes rather than a redesign.

On cost: the notes under each direction are relative — which is dearer than which, and why. They are not quotes and not estimates. No supplier list has been screened yet, so any dollar figure here would be invented.

On the renders: every dimension comes from the measured drawing and laser checks, and every appliance is drawn at its manufacturer’s real size. Materials are photographed from the actual products. Colours on a screen are not colours on a sample — get chips in the room before anything is ordered.