New kitchen - just bewildered - especially with worktops

[glowstick]

That is it really - kitchen will be started in the summer.

I have a pretty good idea of layout and have been to a few kitchen showrooms but I've never put a new kitchen in before and I am getting really confused about where to go to find out things. Have seen some lovely looking kitchens online, but I need details - I like to research!

Where am I meant to go to find out things like what are the best worktops? I want the smooth look like Corian but I want it to be totally industructable - no stains, scratches and ideally heat resistant.

There must be a place that just tells me what to do - please tell me there is!

Work starts on my new kitchen in the first week of June, I've just finalised my work tops & tile choice. I'm going for a Caesarstone worktop. It's supposedly hardier than Corian. We've got granite at the mo and it has been excellent from a stain, scratch and heat point of view.

I went to lots of different kitchen showrooms, asked questions, some were helpful, some were useless. We've gone for an established local company who knew their stuff and were really helpful with a wide range of products to choose from.

To be honest, you are best looking at places like Pinterest, interiors mags etc and finding the 'look' you like, doing some sums and figuring out your budget, then going around the showrooms asking the more technical questions (such as the differences between the composite tops) and choosing your supplier/finalising spec.

I'm going to a composite too, probably Compaq.
My kitchen designer rates it for it's durability.