had thought white but am worried it might be too stark i have a black glass door fridge not sure whether to go black and maybe a light shade of green for majority of cabinets with a black bench top

Hi Carmel, I'm not a architect and I do value everyone's professional opinion, but can't help thinking that perhaps you and your husband are both right. The breakfast table would look great in a natural stone, it is the where you eat, have tea or wine on, maybe a small project, entertain or have a fork fight on. Choose a granite or marble that's going to tie in with the splash back and your lovely timber floors and go with a wow factor like a stand out vein or run of colour in it. Makes it interesting. As for the rest a dark or even black solid surface or laminate is ideal. I find them soft and touchable, easy to maintain, a pleasure to work on and it adds the extra modern elements that's missing from this lovely galley style kitchen. Corian is another brand of solid surface but a textured dark laminate from A reputable laminate supplier should do it too. Make this room an energy that you want to be in not just look great. Kind regards Marina.

They are the same as they are both engineered. From the builders perspective the smart stone comes in bigger slabs so it will save on costs to buy fewer slabs. He is trying to save you or himself money. Ceaserstone has a wider variety of colours, there customer care is top notch and they have more product. Like with any Bench top be it laminate, stone or marble, as soon as you drop something on it, clean it up.

In both pictures , the upper cabinets look a cream and the below bench ones look white ? Might be a flash or similar , because that doesn't make sense to me . I hate grey at the best of times , and this kitchen has gone for the blandest shade of grey for the walls too , and I'm not sure if there is a grey tinge to the tiles , but it looks like there may be . Like dreamer , I'd go a reasonably colourful rug , and 2 or 3 brighter coloured benchtop appliances , because I suspect most potential buyers will want to change 1 or more aspect anyway . The other thing is that you said the tiles are right through the house -- tiles are sort of expected in a kitchen , not in a lounge or bedroom . So if you do a nice floor in the kitchen that really suits the space , not only will a potential buyer be thinking they want to completely redo the kitchen , but it also highlight the tiles elsewhere too .