Hi Joaney & Lainy I also use only windex on all my bench tops. The granite I had before was a white with a few burgundy streaks and gorgeous highlights through it. Can't remember the name, might have been River White but not sure and I found nothing stained it at all. The marble in my bathrooms I have now look very expensive and impressive but I know every single mark on them even though a visitor mightn't pick them out. In my kitchen I now have Caeser stone and if you want a virtually indestructible bench top this would be it. I have blackbutt timber floors and as they have a lot of color, I chose all white in the kitchen with just a tiny fleck. I just love granite because of the beautiful grains you get running through it.

Thanks for the feedback all... Here are some samples and it just shows how important to see them in the actual environment. Looks a little too dark even with a lot of light the longer plank is embelton brand and the other two are colonial quickstep. The two darker boards are already showing the hand prints. The embelton board (Belmont dark) was slightly cheaper albeit they had a special on that coloured board, so it should come in around $32 Sqm for the different colours. I'm almost sold on embelton as the look and feel is more advanced to the colonial. I'd love to go with real timber but this isn't my dream house, plus I have concerns that it would be truly appreciated based on the area I live. I'm aiming for a hybrid coastal look and just finished the walls in antique hamptons, so re painting in the short term isn't desired. In the pics the Belfort dark looks fantastic c but maybe I aim for La Mancha or maple in the embelton range

I'd love some smarter storage solutions - mine looks clean on the outside - but open a cupboard up & it looks like a bomb site!

I think that would look great with floorboards in a classic walnut colour, that would definitely look great with the light cabinets. If you want an idea of how it might look with the end finishes, you can type this into google and they should be able to show you a few.