Hi, There is a huge range of marble-like quartz surfaces currently available from various brands such as Silestone, Caesarstone, Dekton,Quartzforms, Technistone & Cimstone. A marble-like quartz can give you the desired look AND easy maintenance!

the counter was nice and shiny but now it has become cloudy and doesnt look good at all. how can i fix this

The cardboard backing is a balancer. It’s a necessary requirement to keep the worktop level to prevent wharping. Out of interest was it from Howdens as they’re well known for cardboard backing while other major suppliers offer a different material which is better.

It is probably better to keep to one height in the sink corner, for all the above reasons. This time round I'm going free-standing. I discovered one height all round affects my shoulders - the worktops are too high for my height and different jobs (eg mixing, bread making, carving, chopping) and it seems there's a standard height just to fit the appliances underneath. My current, old, about-to-be-redone kitchen served its purpose but practically didn't work so well. So this time I'm including working heights that suit me, not the designer \ trader.