Thank you everyone for your comments. I have decided to go with a white stone, most likely Caesarstone Intense White, but will be visiting the various stone showrooms over the next week or so to look at other whites (in light of the comments about the starkness of the white options I posted). Looking at a crisp white with a little movement that doesn't clash with the floor and texture of oak panels. Thanks again! :)

For vanity top, chose either a laminate, or engineered stone such as quartz eg: caesarstone, Essastone or silestone.You can get some wonderful laminate colours now, at very budget conscious prices. Look at Laminex and Polytec brands. Acrylic bench tops, in my opinion are dated. Have you looked at the semi inset basins. Basins really come back to personal preference for shape, height. If you have a basin on top of bench top, then install taps in the wall. If you choose inset or semi inset basin then taps installed in basin. Shower must be no smaller than 900 x 900mm. Freestanding bath would be a waste of space in your bathroom. I have attached a photo of a semi inset basin, (caroma) on a laminate bench top (Polytec)

Hi Helen, if you are to compare these products, their quality (which are both very good) is much the same, they just produce some different styles / paterns/ colours and textures, that are unique to their own brand. Hope this helps, Malcolm.

Hi Abinaya, In reality it is not a good idea to use Marble for a Kitchen Benchtop. A lot of the images you may see on sites like Instagram may actually be Natural Quartzite, or man made Reconstituted Stone, or or even possibly Sintered Porcelain. The reason Marble is not really suitable for Kitchen benchtops is that it is a soft stone that can scratch from the heard wear inflicted on a kitchen benchtop, plus it is porous so it will stain from many of the ingredients used in a kitchen and it will also mark from acidic foods and many household cleansers. It is for these reasons why alternative material which still look like Marble are generally used and recommended for Kitchen Benchtops. Quartzite for example is still a natural Stone, which in some forms like Bianco Superiore Quartzite , Taj Mahal Quartzite , White Pearl Quartzite, Sky White Quartzite and Calacatta Mont Blanc Quartzite, all form with distinctive veining; much the same as Marbles have. Quartzite is better suited for Kitchen tops though because it is as hard wearing as Granite, is Acid Resistant, and is Stain Resistant. Alternatively, man made Reconstituted Stone products (also called Engineered stone or Quartz Tops) are made from a mix of quartz particles and resin which comes in a huge range of Look-Alike Marble Styles, where this product type is also more hard wearing and stain resistant than real Marble. Likewise Man Made Sintered Porcelain Slab Manufacturers also make a variety of Marble Look-Alike styles. All these products have a place in the market and each can fill specific design requirements that another material type may not be able to do, so it is well worth doing your homework on their individual characteristics & specifications so to better guide your material choice to best suit your specific application and needs. Hope this helps, Malcolm.