I'm hoping to start a new bedroom scheme soon upcycling some old pieces and your project is an inspiration.

Dear Wombatchild The two double ovens are on that back wall. The distance from them to the end of the island is 2.6 mtrs. The bank of units is mirror imaged from the centre of the ovens and that means there are two slim pull out larder cupboards on that wall. That 2.6m means that they can be pulled out and it is still no problem for traffic to be flowing past. My hob is on the island itself and the extractor comes up through the granite when in use. That far end of the island is great for taking things out of the oven and checking on food ...... turning potatoes over etc... To the left of that bank of units is a door to my boot room so I need walk way space there. This thread is quite old now and I may be repeating something I typed earlier but I love my kitchen ( think it is about six years since I had it out in) ..... The only things I would have done differently would have been not to have stainless steel sinks as they are a devil to keep looking nice! And I would like more contemporary pendant lights over the island instead of those chrome chandeliers - can change them but still working on husband on that point!!!! X

Looking at the pictures I am confused do please excuse me if I have this wrong. It looks to me like you have a vertical piece of stone on the back of a unit and it is this gap that has gotten bigger- presumably you would have rejected this gap at installation had it been there then. Perhaps it was held higher by a floor board that has since settled. To remedy this you could lower the feet on the units or have the worktop installers add spacers on the floor edge to raise it slightly which in my opinion is the preferred option.

Trying to choose a kitchen island bench top from the Caesarstone selection. I keep getting drawn back to rugged concrete, I love the less glossy look and texture. However keep reading negative things about it staining and being difficult to clean because more porous. Any comments or advice would be much appreciated