I think your benchtop material choice really depends on how both you and your husband live and what level of natural wear you are comfortable with showing. Natural wood benchtops to me are very similar to natural stone or stainless steel. The surfaces will naturally age and show use, scratches and imperfections much more than say a caesarstone if it's a high use area but some people love that look and it goes well with an industrial or natural style. My wife and I thought long and hard about it but realised we want the benchtop to look as new and clean each time as possible so opted back for caeserstone (Ocean Foam) which hid small stains and dust :)

thanks Georgi02 I thought of the laundry incorporated in the bathroom or kitchen as you suggest but I want study nook and thought the two could go together hence the study/laundry space. I suppose it could go next to the fridge? But then I don't get a broom cupboard and study. After the comments here, I'm thinking maybe a U shape will be better because I can shrink the length of it I think from 3000 to 2600 which will give me more room in the dining and maybe it won't look as pokey as with the island. A question about the bathroom, would you put a vanity across the whole width and a narrow window above the mirror or have as shown , a large window to one side and therefore a smaller mirror above the vanity?

@Mc10 - We are also recirculating - and we are venting this through a gap in the kickboard where we will eventually also install a mesh / metal grill to keep bugs out etc. When the extractors in full flight it does throw out quite a breeze so make sure wherever you decide to vent isn’t somewhere that will annoy people who are sat - luckily where we vented is into where people just walk though. We hardly lost any storage if you look at the pic I posted what looks like the first drawer at the top is what we boxed in to price clearance and access - I think it was about 15 cms - not that significant as lots of storage space elsewhere.

I am getting so carried away with this... its been raining all day and we've watched a lot of tv. I have a 4 yr old too. But I promise this is the last one. the market seems inflated all over NR right now. I think its the COVID exodus. Our local realtor put up a notice looking for more properties because they have lots of buyers. I'm not sure if it will calm back down in a few years or just keep going up... its hard to say. I've spotted a property in wyrallah that is really large, seems they built a new brick house right onto the old farmhouse, and there's an art studio. But it's not exactly pretty. https://www.realestate.com.au/property-acreage+semi-rural-nsw-wyrallah-135354642 I have to show you this other property... its so unusual and nothing at all like what you're after. its right in lismore near the police station but I've always found it interesting when driving past. https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-lismore-129890018 https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-lismore-129890018