When we bought our current house it cost a bit more than our budget had allowed. So there was not my much money to spend on updating. But I just HATED the kitchen: imitation wood grain cupboards, pink laminate bench tops and a painted wood trim around the edges. Overall, the kitchen was very usable, so a new kitchen seemed not necessary. So we called in a company who took all the cupboard doors and drawer fronts away and spray painted them brilliant white. ( to match the colour of the fridge, which later turned out to be a mistake when I had to buy a new fridge: different white) They also came back to paint the frames the same colour. But what to do about the horrible pink laminate? They used a industrial laboratory finish, spayed on, 5 coats. It is super tough and can be done in several colours and finishes. We chose a beige with speckles of black, gold, brown, silver. Looks suburb and very, very serviceable. The wood trim was also covered and a splash back behind the sink had the same treatment. I was without a kitchen for only 3 days. So for a reasonable cost, I think it was around $2500, I now just love my kitchen. The big expense of course was the oven, warming drawer, gas wok burner, range-hood and induction cook top. Bathrooms and laundry had a complete pink laminate colour scheme. yuk. Then I gloss painted the laundry and bathroom cupboards and had the same industrial spray on finish on the bench tops, but in speckled white. Cost $1900 for 3 benches. Done in 2 days. And 3 weeks of painting!!!!!!

Hi I just thought I would leave a comment about the visibility of joins in reconstituted stone such as Caesarstone tops on islands longer than 3 metres. From a patern point of view; by selecting a style that has a fine grain certainly helps with reducing the visibility of a join. As for the join itself, the technology and tooling used to make such joints has come a long way in the last 10 years; therefore if you use a Kitchen Manufacturer who uses up-to-date stone fabrication methods, then such joins can be next to near invisible. Below is a kitchen we made with an Island that is over 4.3 metres long and has a join through the centre; where the join actually has to be pointed out to be seen. We have seen Kitchen Manufactures use the two height method but you really don't have to do this to achieve a long island. If you would like a long island, then you should not be put off by having to have a join; careful selection of your material, manufacturer and planning can achieve great results. Hope this helps anyone reading this article and the comments above.

I think your suggested laminate but in matt looks beautiful. Perhaps take all the pieces to any kitchen shop and say what you are trying to achieve. They may take pity on you and offer a suggestion

Hi Kate, no problems at all. I installed the bench top in 2008, we left the property in 2016 and rented in out. Which is always the test to any product. We sold the property in 2019. The granite transformation bench top was still the same as the day installed. The same as any bench top, no cutting directly on bench, anything spilt got cleaned up immediately. I was very impressed with the looks and the product.