Replacing with new laminate one.

Thanks, but was thinking more neautral colours

Think u will b surprised what Ikea has in benchtop options. Not an ikea fan normally but they have a v nice white laminate and plywood edge look. Think this would be fine with the antique white. There is also a v nice SOLID wood bench top at ikea which would look grt, last forever, corners could be nicely curved to soften the area but not as easy to wipe down and you said you wanted laminate.

Splashback in black creates mirror effect to your garden window or a safety glass real mirror splashback with 100mm off stainless steel strip stuck on the bottom for heat protection worked wonders in my old kutchen bringing in garden view and increasing natural light++. Yes it needs wiping but worth it for me (just get an Enjo or equivalent glass cleaning mit and drying cloth and all you need is water to clean it).

Check out Laminex Diamond Gloss finish for your bench top. It is harder wearing than normal Laminex and has a high gloss that will give your kitchen a lift.

http://www.laminex.com.au/colour-palette.php#!/colour-palette/view-all

I used Polar White in my kitchen, which will probably be too stark with your antique white, but there is a good range of softer shades. There is an antique white in it, or maybe even flax, iceberg or alabaster - hard to pick colours on screen. Laminex will happily send samples of colours that interest you.

Glass splash backs look great or glass mosaic tiles and these will continue the high gloss look for some sparkle and bling.

How long before things date is really in the lap of the gods, choose what makes you happy, what you can enjoy looking at day after day. The kitchen is the workroom of the house and you need to enjoy being there. Keeping to soft neutral shades will help and avoid too much pattern - even marble patterns that look great and are eye-catching to start with, can become tiring and boring after a few years. If you feel the need for eye-catching colour at any time or want to make a colour statement, paint the walls - that can be easily changed.

Do you have a Bunnings handy? They have bamboo bench tops that are supposed to be very hardy and they look good too.

Shame as the ikea ones are oak (nice and hard) and v nice and v affordable but maybe builder can cone up with sth pretty fabulous instead.

Good point, yes i've seen those.

I suggest Laminex Diamond Gloss in 'Kashmir Granite' for your new benchtops and splashback. I have had this exact bench top colour in the Diamond Gloss finish in my own kitchen for just over 10 years and still love it as it has not dated. I also have Antique White cupboard doors, however mine are vinyl wrapped with a satin finish making the doors appear a more 'cream' colour which was not exactly as I planned, however I still love them. I had planned for my Antique White doors to look more like yours do, which appear to have a more standard finish; I was unaware that by having a 'satin' finish as my husband wanted, would change the colour slightly. Also, as I hate cleaning the grout in tiles, I had my splashbacks made the same as my benchtop and love how easy they are to clean.

Another bonus with the 'Kashmir Granite' laminate is that is looks great with lots of different accent colours, such as red, orange, olive, brown, black, stainless steel, white and many others. I would highly recommend this Laminex colour.
As 'olldroo' wrote above, the Diamond Gloss gives a harder finish, and I can honestly say that after 10 years, my benches are still going strong. They look as good now as they did when they were installed in 2005; my children were 4, 6 & 8 years old at the time and my benches have seen a lot of everyday child usage, as I don't live in a display home.

Whatever colour you choose, if it is a Laminex colour, Laminex will happily send you a larger sample approx. 12.5cm x 12.5cm (5" x 5") of the colours you are interested in so that you can get a better idea of the colour and finish than what is shown online, in their catalogue or on their Laminex chips (no, I do not work for Laminex and never have).

Good luck with it all and I hope you don't mind my very long response. I would be willing to send you a couple of photos of my kitchen should you wish to see what the benchtop colour looks like in use. - LH.

Stop apologising for your kitchen lh2511, it looks very nice.