I didn't do a kitchen remodel, but the kitchen is the one selling point of the house we bought. I'd thought a lot over the years on what I did and didn't want, and here are some of the things I figured out along the way:

* We preferred no island to a small island. It seems to take up space and doesn't give you a whole lot to work with. We actually have a peninsula, which I love. I get space to work on both sides, it's flat so I can put counter top height bar stools on one side, and it makes a great buffet line when we have family gatherings over here. Overall, I have a lot more storage and prep space.

Piggy-backing on to that:
*We preferred the bar stool side to be counter top height, rather than the higher height for full size bar stools. Instead of two tiers of fairly shallow space, you've got one tier of deep space.

We do have a granite/natural stone countertop (technically, it's not granite, but it is a similar natural stone). It does chip fairly easily (particularly around the sink). It doesn't look terrible or anything, but we have had to have it repaired (which, fortunately, is easy, just a pain). We deliberately chose a dark color, because in this house, we do spill things. So I'd say to do your research on the maintenance aspect of whatever counter material you use.