This is a very interesting question and one that comes up quite often. The standard height for benchtops is 900mm from finished floor level. this has been the standard height for near on 100 years. Now, the issue is that over the last 100 years, the human race as a whole has increased in height. Even a small increase in bench height can have a huge impact on the usability of the kitchen. Have you ever stood at a sink and your back starts to ache after 5 minutes? Most of our kitchens are installed at 920mm, but some will go in higher "IF" the owners are taller

A "butler's pantry" with a pocket door (and no sink, so more counter space) at one end of the kitchen would be the ideal solution, but of course that depends on dimensions of your kitchen and whether you can squeeze in enough space for that pantry. We have one off the end of our kitchen, which is maybe 1.5 m square and offers a lot of extra counter space out of sight of the lounge. We have friends who had a fairly big kitchen area, put a blade wall down the middle to create a U shaped kitchen, so the oven and bench face the lounge on one side of the U, the sink is at the end on the short side of the U, and the small appliances and pantry are on the other side of the U, with the blade wall hiding the mess.

Thanks. The calacatta engineered stone bench was from a wholesaler in melbourne at the time (Polygramm), then i used his recommended stone mason who cut everything on site which took a whole day. Its equivalent to the top ranged ceaser stones... saved a few thousand after getting many quotes! Glad i chose engineered stone as i nearly went timber.. i use it everyday and its copped dropped glass jars, wine/beer, you name it.. couple of light scratches but a product called gumption seems to 'cut and polish' everything out so far. I am carefull though to use wooden chopping boards though. Very easy to clean too, i would certainly chose these style of bench tops over anything else if i was to do it again. The cabinets are by flatpackkichens in melb, they offered 50mm increments in cabinet sizes so made customising for my compacted space easy. Pretty sure they just order the doors from Polytec, which are vinyl wrapped gloss classic white in a style called sofia or atlanta (think they are the same). Good luck!

Hi Sian If it wasnt for the foot rail, I'd thought the stool was a side table and looks uncomfortable to sit on, but try Gumtree - you may find pre loved Vincents for a song. I'll save you some legwork, or fingerwork :) check these out. http://www.mattblatt.com.au/Barstools.aspx?s73#p=2&ipp=28&f=v73-pv71-nBarstools-t71-c0&o=Default https://www.justbarstools.com.au/ https://interiorsonline.com.au/collections/all/category-bar-stools I love the choices in the last one.