Hi Pineapplerose, I think there may be a few layers to your dilemma. The first is about fashion and taste (as it should be!!) Mid brown or lighter colours will provide a more contemporary look but you'd be best to surround it with fittings and finishes that with a modern shout out. That is, you can stylise the bench top further with your selections. The second is to look at composite stone products which will give you far more choice - usually with a lower price. Note: 'Granite-look' composite stone benchtops are a premium product but well worth the spend. An important question to ask about composite stone benchtops is the % of resign used as this will indicate how stain resistant it will be. (Note: the only products that are 100% stain resistant are glass or stainless steel) If you'd like some kitchen design inspiration, see: 101 Kitchen and Bathroom Design Ideas Good luck: Richard@themakeovergroup (Melbourne)

This is going to come down to what your space is like, light, how you use the kitchen, how does it relate to other areas of the house ie. is it open plan, so needs to complement other areas such as dining & family? Here are a few examples of backsplashes with concrete benchtops. Depends on your personal style & taste as to what appeals to you. My 1st reaction was marble, it would give interest & movement but without knowing what else you have going on in the room...

Have you been to visit some kitchen showrooms? You can customise the photo search here on Houzz quite a bit. For example, you can simply select [dark wood[(https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kitchen-design-ideas-with-dark-wood-cabinets-phbr1-bp~t_10444~a_17-103) cabinet finish in the filter options. Then add more filters like floor colour, kitchen layout, cabinet style, wall colour etc if you wish. Leave the benchtop and splashback options open and see what results you get. You can then save any photos that appeal to your ideabook.

personally I know it is modern but I do not like the wooden addition to the bench. I would suggest you just carry the bench (black marble if you can afford it) so that it has a greater over hang and serves the same purpose as a breakfast bar. To me the wood currently looks an eyesore.