Thanks for all the info. Sorry I wasn't clear mercymygft, 22" to the top of the frame. Wish I had your sales rep sas9! The salesperson I normally deal with was going on vacation and he told me I could place the order with anyone because they were not on commission. I didn't like the salesperson I was dealing with but did not want to be rude, so I placed the order with her. I probably would have gotten better info from my regular guy. I called the manufacturer and they told me I could have had the stools made anywhere from 24-30 inches. Sigh. They cannot be returned angela12345 because they were a custom order. On a positive note, I have been a regular customer of the furniture store for many years. They have taken the stools back and are looking to see if they can add some inches under the seat. If they can't maybe you can give me some pointers on eating at chest level:)

I don't know what you intend to do regarding backsplash height (that's the distance b/w the finished counter and the bottom of the upper cabinet and light rail), but here's what I usually tell people when they're considering the height for their backsplash. The standard is 18"...regardless of the reasons why, it's still the standard.. How this affects your kitchen.... Refrigerator and other tall cabinet heights...Because wall cabinets are meant to be mounted at a standard height, cabinet manufacturers take this into account when designing tall cabinets. Tall cabinets are designed to be the same height as the installed wall cabinets so the tops all line up. When you change the height a wall cabinet is installed at, it affects cabinet top alignments. With the refrigerator you can usually mount the upper cabinet a little lower OR order a shorter upper cabinet, but be sure you don't make the alcove any shorter than 72" tall b/c newer refrigerators are 70" to 72" tall (and seem to get taller each year!) With other tall cabinets like oven cabinets and pantry cabinets, they're a standard height and designed so they're the same height as the wall cabinets when those wall cabinets are installed 18" above a 36" high counter. If you have custom cabinets, this may not be an issue b/c your cabinetmaker can adjust the cabinet heights. But, if you are using stock or even some semi-custom cabinets, you cannot change the height. You can often get taller cabinets for use w/36" or 42" tall wall cabinets, but not shorter for 30" mounted lower. But, even those that are taller are also adjusted based on standard wall cabinet heights + an 18" backsplash height. Small appliance height...Small appliance manufacturers often design their products to meet this 18" standard...for example, my KA stand mixer (bowl lift) is around 17" and many coffeemakers and blenders are just short of 18". So, you need to be sure you have room under the cabinets + light rail to fit those appliances. Small appliances... Keep in mind that if you're using an appliance on your counter, you must be sure you have room under the base cabinets to move that appliance around easily. Don't, for example, tell yourself you're only going to use it in front of your upper cabinets so you don't need to worry about its fit. In reality, you will be moving things around on your counter while you work and most likely your appliance will be moved under the cabinets at some point. You don't want to tear your light rail off or damage it (or the cabinets). Also remember that "standard" upper cabinets are 12" deep + 1" for the door...so they stick out 13" over your counter...leaving you only 12" or so of workspace in front of the upper cabinets...not much room to work in by itself! (If you have deeper upper cabinets...say 15", there's even less counter frontage in front of your upper cabinets...3" less, so 9".) Vertical workspace... Another consideration is vertical work...

We used both. I have an 18" overhang from the knee wall supporting the lower tabletop on my island. To support the overhang, we have table legs, wooden corbels, and metal L-brackets. Probably a little overkill, but I have kids and am paranoid about the slab breaking. Closeup of one wooden corbel and the tops of the metal L-bracket (the bottom part of the L bracket is screwed into the studs of the knee wall and then the cabinet wood nailed over it). Another shot showing corbels and one table leg More table legs/corbels - ignore the crud around the base of the legs/knee wall. That's been fixed :)

In general...The 6 & 10 Rule [from AZStoneConsulting, IIRC] If your stone is 2cm thick, you will need support for any overhang > 6" If your stone is 3cm thick, you will need support for any overhang > 10" With a 15" overhang: 2cm stone would need 9" of support (15" - 6" = 9") 3cm stone would need 5" of support (15" - 10" = 5")