Personally I would go lighter. That worktop is very brown, do you think? You can add colour and interest with accessories. Of course this is my opinion but I can tell you’re not sure.

Looks very brown and doesn't go well at all with the door you have in the pic, sorry!

Stick with the marble effect worktops if you are having dove grey doors. I don’t think that brown colour works well with it at all.

We have light grey cabinets, the Ikea Lerhyttan, and a Duropal marble laminate worktop. We have had precious few people in our house since the kitchen was installed in March 2020, but we have gotten compliments on both the countertop and the kitchen’s looks. The combo is not bland once you add in accessories, the flooring, etc.

Oh dear! A pretty unanimous verdict so far. I know white surfaces look lovely in catalogues, I just don't think they'd look very lovely when covered with crumbs and jammy fingerprints! I think the Caldeira would be much more forgiving. The dove grey cabinets look virtually white to me though - but maybe a different white goes better with the Caldeira? The only other white in the range is creamy white https://www.benchmarxkitchens.co.uk/kitchens/oxford-cream. Looks a bit old-fashioned to me but maybe it would work better?

I like the worktop. Im not convinced by the creamy cupboards in the image, they look a bit too 'cream' to me. `The most important thing is to get everything to work together, worktop, units, tiles etc. You wouldn't mix white metro tiles with cream cupboards. I would think about which element you want the most (ie the dove grey cupboards for example) and get the worktop that looks right with it. Just to throw a spanner in the works, browns and earthy tones are back in. It doesn't mean that greys are not relevant, but there seems to be a broader range of acceptable options now, not just grey.

Hi- I’ve just looked at the Zenith marble effect on line. My Duropal looks like it might have a heavier vein, but I suspect they aren’t all that different. I know you are worried about crumbs and jammy fingers... I get it, my kids are 6 and just 8, and thanks to pandemic home schooling way too comfortable with getting their own snacks... but my marble laminate has an uncanny ability to hide dirt. I’ll think it’s clean until I run my fingers over it.

Thanks for all the comments. Food for thought. I need to stop dithering now. The main problem is that my husband and I have different ideas in mind (I’d have had everything pure brilliant white, left to my own devices… ) and trying to compromise ends up pleasing neither of us! I do like the Caldeira Zenith - it felt lovely. And I really felt the Matt finish on all the other compact laminates was unpleasant to the touch. But the budget will only run to a choice of 5 colours from the Benchmarx Oxford range (same as Wickes Kendal I think). Husband likes the green - I really don’t. So only choices of cabinets are dove grey or pebble grey really. And husband doesn’t want white worktops and he has a point I think, despite it looking nice. Although I like the idea of white marble hiding dirt…I will sleep on it anyway! Thanks again.

We had dark a brown counter top over units painted in F&B Skimming Stone . The top not only showed every crumb but also every smear and any dust that settled that day . We changed it to a lighter top . Made the kitchen look bigger and brighter .

So we got samples and although I still really like the caldeira, I think this white terrazzo might go with the dove grey better. https://www.worktop-express.co.uk/solid-laminate-worktops/white-terrazzo-solid-laminate-worktops It feels nice and smooth rather than horrid and plastic too. Looks like floors in Spanish houses! It’s going be a pretty white kitchen but we’ll have porcelain wood effect tiles and may even go for grey on the walls rather than white so that should lift it a bit. Other half is now muttering about blue wall tiles but I think I prefer white metro with grey grouting.