Helen, I really would not worry too much about weak joints. As long as the base units are fixed, firm and level, with lots of support it will be fine. Do not choose from a small granite sample, unless it is utterly consistent and uniform. I almost always/whenever possible get my clients to choose the slabs. Then rather like choosing a picture, each one is unique. If you need more than one slab, make sure it is the next in the block. Depending on the granite/marble you might find - one at 3.5 metres, but I would not worry about it. As said by others above otherwise you can go for a man-made material such as Minerva. We have recently used Carrara White Minerva a fair bit as you can make seamless joints, its cool to the touch like natural stone and looks like Carrara. A picture of a recent kitchen by us using Carrara white Minerva Granite with two joints in front of the hob Green painted kitchen with two under-mounted sinks and a joint onto the other worktop run

Difficult choice. I like the large tile samples. The one on the right, with the vein through it looks lovely, but it will look a lot busier when you see that on an entire floor. You might or might not like that. And then there's the added choice: do we put the veins all in one direction or will we mix it up. I'd probably choose one of the lighter large tiles.

We have an oiled solid wood block worktop in our utility room. We regularly re-oil it. The area around the sink has become discoloured and marked. It has also been made black in one area by some sand we used - don't ask me how or why, but I was filling something with wet sand and it has made it black where it got onto the wood. Similarly, we had an old aquarium which was leaking, which again left a black stain. Sanding and re-oiling has removed an amount of it, but it's not back to looking pristine. I have a clear plastic mat that I put the washing liquid and conditioner bottles on, because I'm paranoid now of them marking it. If I had the choice, I wouldn't choose it again and whilst it looks great, it really doesn't stand up well to any abuse.

Hi Sarah, Huge rug under dining table - big yes! As I mentioned before, just make sure it it doesn't have a deep pile and is fairly easy to clean / hoover. This will break up the black considerably! The rug size needs to be big enough to pull all your chairs out and they still sit on the rug - that's the minimum right size. Just a thought about finding the right paint colour for your walls and cabinets to brighten everything up. When my family took a trip down to cornwall, we stayed in this lovely cottage in the country-side. The cottage had small little deep windows, so didn't get much light in. However the cottage was so bright, warm & crisp. It had been painted a white that really really worked - white can be tricky to get right. So I called the owners of the cottage to see if they had a paint can laying around so I could find out the exact colour. It was straight Brilliant White - standard paint you can get for kitchens, walls, ceilings, masonry, etc in whatever finish you need (matt, sheen, semi-gloss or gloss). I've used it a couple of times sinse to freshen up or update an area, to make small spaces pop, or just to bring a whole space that crisp - perfect white look to show off art and objects (it is one of the few whites that can do so well as art and objects usually look dull or get lost with a plain white background). This might help with your project as it is the best paint for reflecting light and brightening your areas - but it is bright - so you will have to do a test area to see if it is too bright for you, in which case go with a white toned down from that. Think the rug(s) & the paint colour change of walls & cabinets will work the best for you since you've spent a lot on your interior already and your husband likes it as is - it is hard to justify large costs when your partner thinks it is great and you've already spent a lot.. Good luck!