I think your benchtop material choice really depends on how both you and your husband live and what level of natural wear you are comfortable with showing. Natural wood benchtops to me are very similar to natural stone or stainless steel. The surfaces will naturally age and show use, scratches and imperfections much more than say a caesarstone if it's a high use area but some people love that look and it goes well with an industrial or natural style. My wife and I thought long and hard about it but realised we want the benchtop to look as new and clean each time as possible so opted back for caeserstone (Ocean Foam) which hid small stains and dust :)

Maybe a gloss light grey subway tile? Glass mosaics can look stunning but there are a lot of grout lines to keep clean, particularly behind the stove.

Thank you, all of you. But Annette, to me the crazing is not at all awesome; it looks dirty. However, after some more googling, I have found a way. Just like treating car duco. 60 grit sanding, then 120 grit sanding, then something else and then metal polish. There is a video on utube; I hope I can find it again. I did not bookmark the site. I have tested a small area with the 60 grit and I can see that this is going to work. But I first have to find a palm sander; hopefully that is something that Bunnings stocks. I will post a photo when I am finished. Inez. BTW: why on earth would anyone manufacture a sink that can not stand hot water. But ? How hot is hot?

I put a lot of thought into what kind of sink to install ino my new kitchen: single vs double, stainless steel vs other materials, dish drainer or not, and finally undermount vs top mount. I went safe and chose industrial grade steinless steel, double sink without a drainer but with aditional part with multi purpose. I was very indecisive about the last thing: undermount vs top mount sink and finally decided after reading this - I will go top mount.