Marble is the most porous of stones and that's where the issue lies with people being scared to use it. There is a resin coat system that can be applied to prevent absorption although is extremely expensive. Carrara itself is almost the top of the price range so the alternatives to marble are starting to become available. Yu cannot replicate the natural beauty of marble in reconstituted stone, due to how it's made, although essay stone and Caesar stone both have natural looking white stones with a feint vein throu them to mimic the subtle grey beauty in marble. Because reconstituted is made up of up to 90% resin, it is suitable for kitchen surfaces as it withstands everyday use much better than natural stone. As for colour. The more natural the better, and to liigghten your space the white stone is best contrasting with your cabinetry if impactis what you're after. I would go with off white perimeter cabinets, and tie the island in with white stone, the island base can be a dark tone or timber, either a painted colour, which i would get from the stone colour, so if it's a marble the grey vein then paint the island cabinetry in a complimentary grey cabinet, or a beige stone then the island cabinets may be a timber. Ether way, don't go with more than two colours, use timber and stone as the focus, and pick one colour. White is always good.

Hi Barry, I personally don't think the large blank space lends itself to a piece of art. It's up too high and contrary to your thoughts, it wouldn't be the feature you'd hope for it to be. Besides, the money you spend on a piece large enough, would be better spent on a smaller, higher quality piece mounted at the correct height (eye-level) that would compliment another part of your home. Getting back to the blank space, have you considered using a timber veneer for the wall cabinets? Something that would work with your bench, and then you could use the same veneer as wall panels to continue above the blank space over the cupboards. Perhaps you could even incorporate led strip lighting to give it a little more wow factor. Timber is great because it adds a layer of warmth to the polished concrete and dark cabinets. Good luck, and keep us posted! Would love to see which way you go. Cheers, and have a great weekend. Steve

Thank you for some concrete information. Those samples could actually be different batches of the one colour. The flecks and shading are almost identical. Is the new version the low silica option following legislative changes? If so, you’ve been caught up in a change that was beyond the Manufacturers and your control. It would also explain the same name being used, something typically not done because it causes problems. PS you assumed I’m a guy. I’m not but I do have 25+ years of dealing with contracts, vendors and projects. Half my life is spent trying to get suppliers to do things they may not want to do, and it all comes back to the paperwork particularly the disclaimers and exclusions. I can’t see any resolution for you.

Could you swap the fridge with the wall oven, going by your photo both fridge and Wall Oven would fit side by side. I would definately have the fridge on the cook top wall and not on the other side of the kitchen. I see by the photo that the timber beam could be in the way, I would speak to your plumber who should have a simple solution on ducting the range hood. A simple one built into a special cabinet above the cooktop can recirculate or be ducted outside by either exposed stainless tube for your industrial/country look or have the ducting boxed in, the ducting can be flexable so no problem avoiding beams.