I just love the concrete bench top. There are not a lot of comments around about practicality though. What are you going for?

Hi I just thought I would leave a comment about the visibility of joins in reconstituted stone such as Caesarstone tops on islands longer than 3 metres. From a patern point of view; by selecting a style that has a fine grain certainly helps with reducing the visibility of a join. As for the join itself, the technology and tooling used to make such joints has come a long way in the last 10 years; therefore if you use a Kitchen Manufacturer who uses up-to-date stone fabrication methods, then such joins can be next to near invisible. Below is a kitchen we made with an Island that is over 4.3 metres long and has a join through the centre; where the join actually has to be pointed out to be seen. We have seen Kitchen Manufactures use the two height method but you really don't have to do this to achieve a long island. If you would like a long island, then you should not be put off by having to have a join; careful selection of your material, manufacturer and planning can achieve great results. Hope this helps anyone reading this article and the comments above.

Hi all our terrazzo bench has been installed and in use for over 12 months. This bench was poured in Italy and then finished by a stonemason off-site type. When 1st installed I spilt some lemon juice which created a mark so we are careful not to use acidic items on the bench. I am not sure if this happened before or after we sealed it but I think it’s important to seal any natural stone product and we used the sellers recommended product called “slow drying sure seal” but I won’t vouch for its effectiveness as I can’t compare it to anything. Over all we love the look but I think you need to be a little more careful around natural products than engineered ones so it may depend on your lifestyle

Don't go with white. While it is easy to replace door fronts and drawer fronts you won't be able to replace the tall vertical panels adjacent to the fridge recess and the microwave recess without pulling out half of your cabinetwork. If you went with a white you wouldn't be able to match the same white as these vertical panels, and the new white would look off next to the old white or vice versa! I'm afraid there is no easy solution that will make the new doors blend in with the old vertical panels, so I would go with a bold contrast colour block that looks good with the white vertical panels, as well as the black granite. Perhaps consider a Piet Mondrian inspired kitchen facelift, by introducing some black edging to the vertical cabinets and a careful composition of blocks of primary colours? Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits