I love the look of very old kitchens with warn wooden work tables/butchers blocks, open shelving and cupboars, like Victorian kitchens would have and I believe wood can be more sterile than plastic, think of all those old kitchens in museums where the servants scrubbed them!!! I would love to put an old style kitchen in this house, do have a wooden drainer though.....mable also stains, my white marble hearth is badly stained and it has to be cleaned with dental fluid type stuff, granit is current and very nice but very expensive......depending on what style and how much budget......take a look as other peoples kitchens and ask, another important thought is any joins in the work top.