I have the same question really, except I know I have to have laminex and don't know which would look best. We live in the country where it's hard to inspect sizeable samples in situ

If you are in New Zealand, I have often found great lights (and a big range) at Lighting Plus. When I was putting my house on the market I put three of these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/jaga-bcopal-1light-pendant.html over my kitchen benchtop, and they looked just gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact, that I have already bought three new ones in advance for when I upgrade the kitchen lighting in my new house. They also have these : http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/hudson25-whitegold-1lt-pendant.html or these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/trumpet35-pendant-blackgold.html  if you like the look of the internal gold under the shade. There are also others similar. I have also found some great lights at : http://www.edenlighting.co.nz/collections/pendant-lights . All of these are very affordable. However if you want to go really high end, and you like NZ timber lights, you can't go past : https://www.davidtrubridge.com/collection/lighting/  Just my 2c. Enjoy.

Hi There, not all the Caesarstone tops leave finger marks I have the Raw Concrete in my kitchen and yes we do need to clean it but its a really nice look in a matte finish and we are happy with it, I have had many years experience with stone benchtops and silestone is OK but it can differ from the sample a little as they source the materials from multi-able countries which can create variations to the sample, Caesarstone is more on point when matching the colour sample and this would explain the extra cost in the product. In short id suggest like I do with all my clients go to a show room where you can see the stone in large samples to best gauge the look and feel of the products looking at 100mm x 100mm samples does not cut it when spending the amount you do for stone. good luck with your search. http://www.caesarstone.com.au/find-a-display https://www.silestoneoceania.com/where-to-buy/

Hello Northstar 1 thing to remember when choosing your lights .If you want the light down choose a down facing lampholder, dont drop them to low as the GLARE from the globes in your eyes every time they are on is annoying as, every lit pendant you showed had an incandescent globe so if your going to use Fluro globes they will look worse.LED globes with a cleeear glass would be best. Avoid carbon filament even though they look great its a low light output. Depending on your budget take a look at Mondoluce on line they have some amazing glass pendants from Italy and in multiple sizes.