Madeline, check the install directions for the range. Most specify that you can not have any wood for a certain distance above the range, but the Viking range I bought was clear that it had a zero clearance ( meaning you could put wood right next to it) on either side. My range is butted up against a laminate countertop on top of a wooden cabinet and never had any problems. If you get a true commercial range, it will likely require some clearance on all sides, but the home versions usually allow it to be installed right next to a cabinet. Good idea of you to check. My brother had a kitchen with a 30 inch cooktop, and wanted to install a 36 inch, fortunately, the guy they hired to make the cutout in the granite countertop was on top of things and pointed out that it would be a fire hazard because the upper cabinets would then be directly above the cooktop ( the existing design had a 30 inch wall cabinet set higher on top of the vent hood, and the cabinets on either side were much lower )

Giggling as I type since I just wrote a response to you about Internet orders. We had purchased the present home having hickory countertops , granite on the sides of the Viking stove and granite as the back splash and a stain steel back splash in the rear of the gas range. The previous home owners had an under mount double sink along the L counter top and a bar sink on the wood island. Their kitchen designer had left wood trim between the double sink. Big Mistake! Huge Mistake! This wood strip was rotted . The island sink also had severe water damage near the faucet. I contacted local wood craftsman to see if I could just replace the hickory L shaped counter . I had to at first identify my wood species since my intention was to replace only one section of wood. The kitchen has / had three areas of wood so I had to match it. I sent photos to the local forestry college and two wood kitchen designers. I have reclaimed hickory . The cost from a Westchester dealer was eight grand . I did not even factor in travel time and distance since I live in eastern Ct. A New Jersey based wood dealer quoted me 15 grand to repair the L shaped wood counter. My hopes on the local wood craftsman was squashed when he emailed me saying he had no interest in reconstructing a partial counter. I love wood. I love when a kitchen has character so the two colored cabinets and the mixed counter tops appeal to me. I have owned seven homes so renovations have become ......... easy. Oh I curse, I cry, I yell but I know to mull things over and wait until I smile. When I know it will work I am at peace . I love reading the kitchen board cause it helps me process my renovation whether it is the bathroom, kitchen or even the chicken coop. Yes, the chicken coop. I approach all the home issues as function, design and cost. If the cost is too much I retweak the function or design . If I find that the cost is still too high I wait. Since water is wood's worst neighbor have you considered a soapstone sink with a dish extension. I do not know the technical terms but I imagine you extending the area around the soapstone sink so water puddles will be on the stone. I have seen the stainless steel sinks also with the sink having a extension of SS around the sink. I can not add links showing my design suggestions since I am IT stumped. If you go in with the mindset " oh I will always wipe water off the wood" you will go bonkers when your guests help in the kitchen. You need to waterproof the wood. Make sure it is a hard durable wood. I love my hickory. I just could not afford the repair bill so soapstone was installed . I am frozen from walking the dogs . Maybe when I thaw out I will post a picture of my damaged wood sink . Hope this helps

This is the backsplash from our last house that we did with BB counters. DH made it, I painted it with semigloss paint & I caulked the bottom edge very well, we had no problem with it. This house I have BB counters too, but haven't yet done the backsplash, although I'm pretty sure we're going to do a similar treatment.

This is just for a short money refresh, not my dream kitchen do-over, but I would like something new. Normally I would solve this problem with paint but I hate hate hate my cabinet doors. The stile-less doors make it look so 1960s bead board, rather than 1998 which it is; I think a coat of white paint would actually make it worse and make it seem as if it really was a 1960s kitchen that someone slapped some paint on. The cabinets with glass insets I have no problems with. The quote from Scherr's for new doors shaker doors with inset panels was $1200ish with white finishing being another $1200 if we wanted them to do that part. So painting the cabinets is out unless we spend $1200 for new doors too (possible but not the first place we'd spend $1200). For under $1000 I could do Ikea butcherblock countertops dyed with india ink, and a glasstile backsplash all around the room. It would give me way more BANG for my buck and still leave me in a position where my current cabinets would look fine enough until we could afford to spend the $$$ on replacing them or the doors. My kitchen and house has coppery tones, knotty pine kitchen, maple floor, weird purple blue speckly laminate. My kitchen opens up to a dining area with a birch ikea table and some rubberwood chairs, there is doug fir trim that I am slowly stripping and a gorgeous oak door. My aesthetic would be vintage + midcentury, if that's even possible.