What basig is referring to is called an edge build up. You don't need to ask for this, it is the standard way to fabricate stone Benchtops. Stone slabs are generally 20mm thick, although the most common. Benchtop is around 40mm as laminate tops are 38mm. You can opt for any thickness you wish with stone as only the edges are joined to give the impression of a thicker top. Caesarstone has 12mm and other products even thiner than that. High end designs are currently utilizing these profiles to provide contemporary lines, however I get the impression you don't want to push any boundaries with your tops. Hope the thickness breakdown helps.

There is Quantum Quartz 'Cloudy Bay' which is a lovely stone similar to Caesarstone 'Oyster' and doesn't show too much up as it has markings in it already. Also you could consider Caesarstone 'Clamshell' which has a small amount of white & darker greys through it. Hope that helps.

The darker the bench colour, the more marks it will show. We have a stone benchtop - a white with small flecks of grey and beige through it - easy to maintain.

So, what color did you eventually choose? I am really interested because the house we have just bought has similar color ceilings. I was also wondering about the color of the light fittings. I think that I will get some color changing LED light bulbs and have them installed all around the house. I like them more because you can both use them as a regular bulb or change the color to any you would like. It is also possible to control them using an app on my phone, making it so easy to control them. Now I think that it would be the most reasonable decision if I installed white bulb fittings so they look good with all the colors the bulb can make.