Ah, so your new bench would come from out from wall like the existing one? How about doing something like this (see pic) but using a normal mirror as the back piece. It would reflect the floors and make the island (or return bench?) appear more open then it actually is. I'm not sure if a smoke mirror has been used here or just a high gloss panel. I would actually allow for more storage anyway, even if you don't envision you'll use it at this point. As they say, "you can never have enough storage".

Hi Em, no you are not overthinking it, it is important to pick a white that does not clash with your tops, or kitchen face colour. You can't change the colour of granites but you can pick a colour to suit your Granite (stone), which is why we like to recommend that our clients should always choose their stone (and cabinet colours) first and then choose their wall paint colour after the kitchen is installed. In addition to your floor throwing off colour, also effecting wall colour in the room is the type of Lighting which have a strong influence (white light or warm light) where these too are other good reasons to pick your wall colour last after the kitchen installation where you can best see that paint colour within your space and not someone else's warehouse or showroom. Hope this is of some help, regards. Malcolm

I found this article when I was looking at benchtop material for a family member Porcelain sheets are the way forward, non staining and of no danger to the craftsman/maker Porcelain is more expensive than Quartz (both in raw material and in installation costs), but then so is marble. I am using a lot of Neolith in my house, so I shopped around to find a stone cutter who was crafty with maximising the use of each sheet of Neolith (to avoid wastage and minimise the number of sheets needed). It made a huge difference. My house was also designed around the sheet size - Neolith sheets are 3.2 metres long (so you can have a 3.2 metre benchtop or island without needing a join). You need to use 12mm (or thicker) sheets for benchtops. (Splashbacks and showers use 6mm thick porcelain sheets - Neolith does 2 different matching sheets for each marble design, so you can bookmark and pattern match the splashback). Also be aware that the marble pattern is only printed on the top of all of the brands of porcelain. If you want to continue the pattern on the “lips” of your benches, this needs to be a beveled edge (which you also need to do with quartz or marble if you want any thickness of “lip” to your benchtop). So you also have to factor in the stone cuts needed to create the benchtop “lips” when calculating sheet cutting and usage. I am not having edging on my benchtops and am instead going for the slim European look of “floating” benchtops. I am not worried that the 1.2 cm edge all the way around the benches will be plain white.

When anything goes wrong it’s what is written on the paper that prevails. If the quotation you accepted says drop in and that is the supporting document then you’re out of luck. A total redo would be at your cost. You may be able to negotiate that they do it at a discount out of goodwill.