Bunnings also has some great laminated wooden benchtops in different colours (real wood) that would look great with your new kitchen and would add warmth and would be very cost effective to boot. I dislike laminate. What size is your Island

I can't help you with the bench top supplier, sorry! But I think your current cupboards will come up amazingly well with paint! The shape looks pretty dated in timber, but that shape painted white, will look fresh, even those dinky little window doors... almost a bit Hamptons! ; D You may not need to as they're timber, so with a light sand and primer/enamel paint they should come up well. But I recently painted my kitchen cupboards. The lower cupboards were laminate so I used the White Knight Primer & Laminate Paint (in a dark blue-grey!) and the upper were painted timber so I just used enamel paint. But the White Knight paint just came up so much better and was so much easier to paint with, the finish is incredibly smooth, they look like brand new cupboards, I've even suggest using that as it's so strong too. But having seen what a transformation a simple paint job made to mine, I'm sure yours will come up really well. Just put the effort into preparing the surfaces of course, the actual painting was the much easier part! Also, try for a light stone, it'll make the space look bigger and your sink etc will blend better, making it seem larger.

Thank you everyone for your comments. I have decided to go with a white stone, most likely Caesarstone Intense White, but will be visiting the various stone showrooms over the next week or so to look at other whites (in light of the comments about the starkness of the white options I posted). Looking at a crisp white with a little movement that doesn't clash with the floor and texture of oak panels. Thanks again! :)

Hi, Ali, I eventually went ahead and had the stone overlay on my kitchen benches and splashback. I am absolutely delighted with the result, and am so pleased I had it done. It has given a completely refurbished look to the kitchen; there was no collateral damage to the cupboards; no having to take the old tiles down from the existing splashback; I didn't change my cooktop or sink (just had the same ones put back in) and I couldn't be happier. The only benchtop which was completely replaced was the long one at the front. It was widened to make a breakfast bar. My previous benchtops were a dark mottled laminate and the splashback was cream subway tiles with a frieze. Very dated. I've attached a before and after photo (the timber venetians at the window have since been replaced with a white holland blind, which looks so much better. If you're in Sydney I can give you the name of the company that did it for me.