Samantha B I just completed my kitchen Reno in Perth. My pantry was also bricked up like yours. Literally doubled the space by getting rid of it but we found out after that the pantry was structural & we had to put an extra support beam in the roof instead ($800) so be careful of that! We completely moved the plumbing, gas & electrics & it only cost a few hundred! So don't be afraid to do that as long as u know decent priced tradies! We ended up doing nearly everything ourselves & went with a masters flat packed kitchen & sourced our own stone benchtops dirt cheap ($2500 installed for a 2m bench & a 1.5m island each with one waterfall edge.). Heres before & after pics.

If its stressing you out, my suggestion is for now to tile over the splashback in the white tile you have elsewhere in the bathroom. No feature, just plain white right across, but install the tiles onto a masonry substrate, (ie. glue a protective board in there over, and tile over that) Live with it for a few months, and if you still hate it, remove the tiles and the pebbles willl still be there with minimal glue to remove. This would be temporary solution and if you decide that you like it, then tile over the pebbles permanently. At least this way, all it has cost you is a few tiles, and you can revisit it later when you have had more time to consider the choices. Also, as your granite top is already in, I imagine it would be quite expensive to have a new piece of stone cut, edges polished and installed etc.. You also risk damaging your vanity and the pebble splashback in the process of removing/installing a new top. Finally, you could do nothing for now. Making decisions like these when you are feeling under pressure to decide is horrendous, a bit of time and the answer will come to you. All the best :-)

Ali your kitchen looks amazing. The colours are wonderful. I have a question for you about the Rugged Concrete. I’m thinking of using it on our island bench but I’m a little worried about finger marks and cleaning. I’ve read lots of bad reports about the other Caesarstone concretes like Fresh,Raw and Sleek. And I’m hoping Rugged Concrete is easy to clean. How is yours now that you’ve had it for a little while?

Hi HU-826087018 and dreamer To try and clear up this situation as there is some wrong or unclear advice being offered here. First, as LOL S said correctly Gas Regulations require 200mm clearance away from any combustible material from the outer edge of the Burner. Secondly "Stone" is not the same as "Reconstituted Stone" where natural stone is not combustible so the clearance regulation here does not apply, however Reconstituted Stone (like Caesarstone, etc, etc) are combustible because these materials contain combustible polymer resins to bind the pulped-up stone particles together, hence the name "Reconstituted Stone".Caesarstone and other types of Reconstituted Stone will burn so it needs to be 200mm away from the Gas Burner, irrespective of the type of wall behind it dreamer. So to try and alleviate your stress HU-826087018 and determine if you have a problem, you need to ask if your splashback is Natural Stone or is it Reconstituted Stone and if it is Reconstituted Stone then you have a problem that your Builder needs to rectify immediately. I hope this helps, Malcolm.