You do not mention whether you wooden wall will be painted or stained wood. Either way, there paint products you can use to properly seal and protect the wood either way. You should visit your local paint store and tell them what you are trying to do and see what products they recommend.

Hi Jiya, For sure this has gone over the top.. not going into that.. To tone it down we can remove the terracotta red color on the walls . It can be replaced with white color on the brick wall. Window frame color if changed to lighter shades would be great as well. The line where the two floors meet may have to be covered with a uni tone area rug. The sqaure shaped dining bench gives the room a sidey restaurant like feel? Can we not change it . For the curtains and Sofa furnishings , please do not take one with any patterns on it.. uni colored ones with an accent piece would be better.. Thanks, Nitin CORNERSTONE DESIGNS Bangalore.

Hello. As you rightly mentioned, there are lots of varieties of tiles available in the market today, including the wooden pattern ones. These designs are offered by almost all the leading tile companies. Well, the patterns/designs are usually on individual's preference, but a natural teak wood pattern would give a natural look as you requested. More than the designs of the tiles, the points that I would suggest to take care of before choosing a pattern is 1. It should not be too dark as it will make the room look smaller 2. It can have a decent amount of texture finish, but shouldn't be over board as it will be a hindrance to walk freely and also cleaning would be a pain. 3 The thickness of the tile, many good companies be of standard quality 4. Easy availability of the tile, in case you have to replace the broken tiles, they should be easily available. About matching the floor with your walls and ceiling, do not replicate what is on the floor (color/pattern), instead go for something lighter in shades (wallpapers or paints) for walls and for ceiling you can consider the wooden theme PVC panels, which are available in multiple colors.

Hi, From your Question, I understand that you are looking to integrate a built-in DW and MW in an existing modular kitchen in your home or a new one you have ordered from a kitchen cabinet manufacturer. In either case, your first phone call should be to your kitchen supplier who fitted / will be fitting the kitchen cabinets. Here's WHY? The kitchen cabinet supplier will confirm the size of appliance required as per the kitchen design. They must have made suitable provisions in the cabinets to accommodate these equipments inside cabinets. The cabinets for DW and MW are different from the rest, since the DW sits directly on the floor while MW needs an escape vent at the back for hot air. 2. You need to confirm whether there exists 15 amp power points at appropriate places for each equipment. 3. For built-in DW, a water inlet and outlet at correct positions are required. The kitchen vendor and/or the built-in DW supplier will visit your home and do PDI to mark the exact location of electrical / plumbing points. It will be useful if the kitchen vendor and plumber / electrician are at hand during this PDI, so as to check and discuss relevant issues on the spot and give their confirmations ( or alternatives ) and close this essential issue to the satisfaction of all concerned. Usually, the actual spot is marked on the wall itself and a line drawing showing kitchen cabinets with exact electrical / plumbing positions marked clearly on it, are shared with relevant agencies to eliminate mistakes, if any. Any corrections reg electrical / plumbing will be expensive and time consuming once the cabinet and countertops are fitted. The appliances are typically installed at the end of the project, when all other works are done and almost all agencies ( read workers ) engaged in the premises have left. So, any mismatch between the initial discussion and actual execution comes to light too late in the day !! To avoid this scenario, ask the built-in equipment supplier to visit once more and verify if their requirements are met. Oftentimes, appliance cos. take refuge in such 'non-compliant' provisions and avoid delivering on committed guarantee / warranty, in case of issues at a later date. It's better to go through this cycle once initially, and get everything right in one go. It is also worth noting here that the positions of electrical / plumbing points vary with brands and models, so once you freeze the brand and model, it is advisable not to change the decision thereafter. However, if your kitchen cabinet maker is a pro and experienced, you may just leave it to him and sit back. A good company / professional will take care of all this. Most of the points mentioned above come with a steep learning curve and are not in any book. They don't teach this in any professional design / architecture course. Once all above is sorted....just check out prominent brands in your city / region. Some names that have stood the test of time are SIEMENS / HAFELE / KAFF / ELICA. All of them have a reasonably good service set up which will get top 'selection criteria' in my book. Also, most of them have enough machines out in the field and that means they are likely to have common spares etc with them, when needed down the years. It is a good idea to buy appliances from a single brand as that saves you the trouble of calling different companies for each appliance. Regarding specific model selection....most machines have all the basic features that are commonly used. A MW may have 58 ( so to speak ) pre settings that you may never use unless you are a Chef. Ask your wife and/or leave this to the family member who will spend most time in kitchen. MW with grill / convection features is a good choice and all above brands have them. Hope this answers your Question, and apologize for a loooong reply. But it's better to know relevant issues and decide. Thanks and good luck :)