Hi Jen and everyone else who has made a comment. You always need to consider your personal use in a space, if there is a lot of water involved tiles a definitely the best choice. Timber look alike tiles just like the Hampton style is a bit fashionable at present like many things were before. What is really important is to really love what you select or what someone may select for you. If you love the selections then they will work for you for many years to come and if they are proportionately correct and balanced and not clashing with other choices; suiting your climatic and general environment and effectively in harmony with there surrounds then these choices will work for others too down the track. Poor choices and poor design which is not well thought through is really the true reason for why things seem date or they just do not work. So all in all Jen timber tiles may be the best choice based on what you have told us about your space.

Hi iggs85. I see your point re cost and how you think it may look. I'll attach a photo of one of my semi-recessed basins in stone. We had to use semi-recessed due to space restrictions as well. The benches are 440. Are yours narrower? I did Google stone benchtop offcuts. eBay has some in marble and granite. There appear to be businesses that do sell offcuts. Anyway, I think you would certainly be able to find a beautiful laminate you like. There is such a wide range. There are also some that look so much like stone. Will you have vanity cabinets/drawers under the benchtop? If so, what are your thoughts there? Same laminate or different? Have you visited any shops yet to look at samples?

I've been working from home for many, many years, but it took me until a little over a year ago to finally refurnish my office to be efficient and comfortable, after years of putting up with major inconveniences. Then hubby decided to sell the house and move! The house we are buying had built-in's in the office that looked great but were totally unsuitable for my needs. Hubby was quite upset when I made it a condition of the purchase that the seller rip all the built-ins out and make good to create an empty space. I then set about drawing a scaled plan of the room and scaled models of all my office furniture and arranging it on the plan. Works okay. Nowhere near as great as the office I am leaving behind - primarily because it lacks the lovely sunny corner in which I placed a favourite comfortable reading chair. And one credenza has to live inside the built-in wardrobe with the bookcase that was above it fixed on the wall above my desk. But it will work reasonably well overall. I do, however, need to buy a good office chair. I dumped mine in the move after making do with a hard pillow to compensate for the broken back and seat height adjusters! My major challenge, for many years, has been a weak local internet connection. Hopefully that will not be a problem in our new home. It was a bad spot, but NBN was connected recently so fingers crossed it's all good now.

i don't understand all the concern..(obviously won't be cheap or easy and probably needs an engineer to design the frame) but the firebox probably weighs no more than 200kg (less than a bathtub full of water and a bather) and the flue is suspended from the ceiling or a power flue can be directed through the wall or floor ..the challenge will be finding the most suitable brand and model (preferably zero clearance) and keen tradesman to organise the steel frame as the timber shelves are only decorative not structural ...we have a 250kg corten steel courtyard gate that is only suspended from steel hinges and they not only hold the weight above the ground the door also has to move...consult the manufacturers who should be able to give more specific advice