Mine were a tad deeper than standard counters because I had a marine edge. Nothing wrong with 3/4 except it is sort of a modern contempo look and I'm getting the feeling that's not what you're aiming for. I prefer them to be closer to the standard thickness so they look less, well, cheap. Not that they ARE.

fori, you're right, they're far from cheap, and I'm concerned 3/4" may look skimpy.

I agree that having them that thin would be a more contemporary look. Not a bad thing if you want it. We had ours wrapped over 3 layers of 3/4" material so that they are a little more than 2 1/4" thick. We have thick countertops throughout the kitchen, and I like the heftier look. (It started because DH wanted the option to replace the laminate counters with concrete later.)

I think standard is 1.5 inches, 16 gauge.

A lot of the italian style modern kitchens are showing a 3 inch apron though, which seems like something of a waste of space to me.

My granite is 3cm, so we did our best to come close to the height with two layers of plywood verses one. Then I have the marine edge as well, so it is a bit thicker than the granite...I would guess it's right around 2" total (give or take an 1/8th).

I would agree that thin ones would be a more contempory look as well. I would beef it up myself.

We also did the beef up because we have a drain board incorporated into the counter on one side. The drain board slopes down 3/4" (thickness of the top layer of the plywood).

By the way, if you haven't considered a marine edge...do...it's the best feature of those counters by far!!

i-chic, what's the advantage of the marine edge other than it looks neat?

rhome, I like the looks of your chunky countertops too. I'm not that tall, so I probably shouldn't make my work surface too high, especially since I'm hoping to get a countertop induction wok burner some day.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm going to ask for at least 1 1/4" like my other countertops.

The marine edge catches spills, eggs, and lemons that might end up on the floor. I don't miss it as much as I thought I would, but it's nice.

I definitely wouldn't make the cabinets taller, overall...I planned mine to be a little over 34" (total) with the chunky counter.

I have ss counters, I would go with the 'standard' thickness.