One thing with a 10" overhang is that you're not saving aisle space because stool legs splay wider than the seats for stability. Your real usable aisle space is from the stool feet over, regardless of whether they're covered by counter or not. On the plus side, maybe you might as well create an overhang generous enough to tuck them all the way under? It'd not only be more comfortable but look a lot better and be safer. Of course, it also means you need to choose and measure stools before making your decision. These tradeoffs are all very personal decisions, but, knowing how much even shallow storage holds, mine would be to look to the cabinets for the extra inches needed to make this work. I purchased ready-made Ikea 12" drawers for the top row of a line of 12" deep bottoms, with shelves below, so I would imagine drawer and sliding shelf mechanisms are available in a number of depths. If needed, I'd also plan storage for the Christmas dishes and the 3-element slow cooker used maybe twice a year, or whatever as needed, somewhere else in the house. This post was edited by rosie on Wed, Jun 5, 13 at 8:13

Paint can definitely go a long way when it comes to inexpensive but impactful upgrades to a space. Your black countertop is quite pretty, but matching the paint color to your backsplash might be difficult. If this is a temporary solution and you plan to do a more complete renovation in the future, you can either live with the backsplash that may not work with your new cabinet paint color or try painting the backsplash. Painting the backsplash is definitely not a long-term solution, but can last for a few years without being an eyesore. A white kitchen is a classic option you won’t regret, and Cloud White by Benjamin Moore is a solid choice. We have a few otherideas for white paint for kitchen cabinets, as well as some of our favorite countertops for white cabinets. This home has black countertops similar to yours and some of those tan/beige hues in your backsplash, and the cabinets are Simply White by Benjamin Moore. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!

You can scribe an extended stile to a wall and the 1001 other little specialty tricks and doings of custom cabinet installation, but are scared to assemble them? Makes no sense. Watch the videos. You hugely increase the freight costs to ship assembled. Conestoga makes great cabinets. High end. You can get a 100K kitchen for maybe 75K. But you will earn that 25% discount with your own sweat equity. Or you will pay it to someone else, Which is crazy, because the whole point is to DIY RTA. If you aren't going to do all the labor here, and pay other people, then look much closer to home for something like Omega, Plato, William Ohs, etc. Keep it under a single umbrella instead of a million chances to point fingers at all involved.

Hi Kristin & Alex, Typically Forevermark will give you back ordered dates when you recieve your quote. It's unfortunate your dealer did not relay these delays to you before ordering. For an RTA cabinet, Forevermark is very good quality and span the gap with applications for a contractor flip to a semi-custom kitchen remodel, depending on the experience of your designer. I've worked with Forevermark for over a decade. With those thousands of orders there have been some defects and damaged parts needing replaced but their warranty claim process is easy and painless and we usually get replacements within a week. Please let me know if you have any specific questions - I'll be happy to help.