There is new a product you can buy from Bunnings which is painted on and gives a granite like finish to the benchtop. It is a two step process finishing with a clear top coat. Will cost a few hundred dollars however and needs to be done properly so in this case, if the kitchen is small, it would be cheaper to change the benchtops to new laminate ones, also available from Bunnings.

you will love this weeks post then, going by you wanting a Scandi look that would include timber, do you have any plans of either bathroom and kitchen to see what the spaces are divided up into cheers

900mm is still 'standard' however I quite often do 950mm for my clients. It is not a difference that will stand out as wrong, and is really more in proportion with the heights of people today. Some things to consider / look out for with the increased bench height: - often the joiner might try to put the extra 50mm into the kickrails as it is cheaper & easier for them. This DOES look disproportionate so I would definitely recommend paying the extra $ to put the height into the cabinets instead. - If you are having a free-standing stove not all of them are able to be adjusted tall enough to suit a 950mm benchtop, so check the specs carefully. You may end up needing to build a plinth for the stove to go on. - Be sure to ask for a filler to go above your dishwasher, otherwise you will end up with a sizeable gap between the top of the dishwasher & the underside of the benchtop. - The distance between any overhead cabinets & the stove top is dictated by standards, so an increase of 50mm in the bench height will result in the overhead cabinets (if you are having any) also being 50mm higher.

Hi all our terrazzo bench has been installed and in use for over 12 months. This bench was poured in Italy and then finished by a stonemason off-site type. When 1st installed I spilt some lemon juice which created a mark so we are careful not to use acidic items on the bench. I am not sure if this happened before or after we sealed it but I think it’s important to seal any natural stone product and we used the sellers recommended product called “slow drying sure seal” but I won’t vouch for its effectiveness as I can’t compare it to anything. Over all we love the look but I think you need to be a little more careful around natural products than engineered ones so it may depend on your lifestyle