Do you want to keep the "black falcon oven" as the feature or do you want the island to be the feature? If you want to keep the oven as the "feature" in the kitchen, then I would do the island in the same cupboards and benches as the rest of the kitchen. If you wanted the island to be a complimentary "feature" to the oven, then you could perhaps do the same cupboards, but go with a black benchtop (although I would personally avoid a black benchtop due to it easily showing dust, water spots, etc). What material will be "under-bench" be on the island bench? Is it also going to be a feature (e.g. a graphic print, timber or something else)? Will the island bench have waterfall ends? If the island bench already has some level of visual interest, then it may not need anything more (i.e. different materials). You can always add visual interest to the island bench with accessories.

Hi I just thought I would leave a comment about the visibility of joins in reconstituted stone such as Caesarstone tops on islands longer than 3 metres. From a patern point of view; by selecting a style that has a fine grain certainly helps with reducing the visibility of a join. As for the join itself, the technology and tooling used to make such joints has come a long way in the last 10 years; therefore if you use a Kitchen Manufacturer who uses up-to-date stone fabrication methods, then such joins can be next to near invisible. Below is a kitchen we made with an Island that is over 4.3 metres long and has a join through the centre; where the join actually has to be pointed out to be seen. We have seen Kitchen Manufactures use the two height method but you really don't have to do this to achieve a long island. If you would like a long island, then you should not be put off by having to have a join; careful selection of your material, manufacturer and planning can achieve great results. Hope this helps anyone reading this article and the comments above.

Love the effort you're going to. But I'd have the entire island inc step down in the one colour, and the cupboard bench and splash back in the second colour. Remember once you add accessories and more importantly yourself the area will have plenty of movement and variety.

I've had black composite granite sinks and laundry tubs in two houses - the first for six years and this one for nearly 9 years. No problems at all. I love them. We are moving to a house that has s/steel and they will be replaced. I find the black granite so easy to clean, durable, and nice to look at. I don't know that I'd opt for white, given that I'm a lazy cleaner and I'd worry about discolouration. BTW. I bought mine on eBay, quite cheaply. Not the expensive brand name ones. They've had plenty of hot water poured into them, both from a saucepan and when washing up - as we don't use the dishwasher much, and I like the dish water hotter than hot!