I just finished my kitchen with Laminex riven wood grain in sublime teak, Caesarstone buttermilk bench top and splash back, and Preference oak in parana colour. It is an earth tone brownish hue and am quite happy with that. Your greyish colour theme with dark wood accent is nice. There are many shades of wood floor that you can choose to match or contrast with the rest of kitchen.

Yes they can and do chip. Fire clay sinks, farmers or butlers sinks scratch, and the cracks that can appear is from water getting into a cracked glaze. This is less likely, but they are also very hard on your crockery, they break so easily in these sinks. On the flip side, you can't beat the look of one for particular styles, although if it's white your after, with a sympathetic period feel, consider an enamel sink instead.

My friend used Dulux renovation paint and it works beautifully, she renovated her ensuite, follow directions for a complete makeover

I used zoom and glasses and can see a crack. That’s a difficult one. Function wise a hairline won’t impact functionality due to waterproofing and sealing. But I wouldn’t want to see a crack in a new installation. Was it laid cracked which is a bad move by the installer? Or did it crack afterwards, possibly after being stood on, which is a sign that the sub base may be uneven and a sign of future problems. Do you have any pics on the waterproofing or sub floor before the tiles?