yep, stunning. I been drawing something similar for a while and it's awesome to see your ab fab results after your OP. I got interested in some ikea solid timber benchtops, not nearly as nice as yours, and thought I'd combo them with black cabinets, white stone and white walls (just a "what if" design). so I totally love your kitchen. it's great how well the tiles look now compared to when you first posted, they really excite me! and the lightshades against the black wall. and what's that dining area I see? that smoked glass table top with timber trestles and black chairs and that black and white rug? where you get those?! I want to see more! congratulations, it's hard not to gush! big ups to Mldesign too.

Do you want to keep the "black falcon oven" as the feature or do you want the island to be the feature? If you want to keep the oven as the "feature" in the kitchen, then I would do the island in the same cupboards and benches as the rest of the kitchen. If you wanted the island to be a complimentary "feature" to the oven, then you could perhaps do the same cupboards, but go with a black benchtop (although I would personally avoid a black benchtop due to it easily showing dust, water spots, etc). What material will be "under-bench" be on the island bench? Is it also going to be a feature (e.g. a graphic print, timber or something else)? Will the island bench have waterfall ends? If the island bench already has some level of visual interest, then it may not need anything more (i.e. different materials). You can always add visual interest to the island bench with accessories.

I'm about to put a cooktop on the 2.3 x 900 peninsular (island with only one free end ( in my new galley kitchen. I am using an induction top so it can be fitted flush with the benchtop surface, allowing me to use the whole area as benchtop when not in use. I intend to have bar stolls on the living room side for entertaining. My joiner has suggested making a beautiful, thin timbercover to go over the glass induction surface for added protection. I just need to decide on down draft induction hob or a ceiling casette. My main aim is to remove the smelly cooking smells from my unit. The smell from one evening of cooking indian chicken curry currently lasts at least a week! Any advice?

We have black pearl granite. Been in around 10 years and looks as good as the day it was installed. Easy to clean and doesn't seem to mark or stain. I would however not use black again as I think white would of looked much better. Granite being a natural product can't be matched up as easily down the track if you decide to add more benches and the like. Each batch can potentially be different.