We are soon to have our quartz countertop and Elkay sink installed. It specifically states on the template for the sink that a 1/2 inche reveal is recommended. On reading pros and cons it seems there is a split preferene. One positive for me is that the counterspace between our stove and the sink is small and this is where we seem to do most of our cooking. With the reveal you can have a custom sized elkay cutting board sitting on the reveal giviing us about a foot more countespace and work space. I'm going to look at the sinks at Home Depot to see if there are any with reveal. Until I read the template specifications and the cutting board specifications I did not even know there was such a thing as reveal. I only hope my fabricators are as good as I was told they are.

Supra92 -- I just got an email from our fabricator (we used Alpha Granite, btw, and they did a great job -- we only had one seam but it's really well done) and they found a piece 24 x 48" that they're keeping for us -- they're even going to finish the edges so we could use it as a table top or something like that. We'll try oiling it when I get it next week and I'll post some pics. Now if I could just get my dishwasher and new range operational. The plumber showed today but not the electrician so we're still on hold with that til Monday. Is your kitchen actually finished and up and running now? If so, I envy you. And where, may I ask, are the pictures of your stone (and your kitchen)? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to see it.

***CROSSPOST from Finished Kitchen: Circa 1840 Farmhouse*** Hi all, Well, we've finally got a (mostly) finished kitchen! This kitchen's been in the planning stages for 8 years and I've been in and out of this forum for just about that long-- wow, time flies! Whether I've posted or just lurked, the information I've gotten here has been INVALUABLE. I can unequivocally say that my kitchen would not look anything like what it does without this Forum, and for that I offer my profound gratitude-- there is, quite literally, no way I could have done it without all of you, past and present. So, here are the photos of the finished result: For the entire album with detailed photos, just click on the link below any of the photos above! Here are the details: Cabinetry: IKEA Lidingo White (with glass uppers) for the perimeter, Tidaholm Brown/Black for the island Island Knobs & Pulls: Anne at Home Farm Collection and Lewis Dolin Glass Cup Pulls (from Myknobs.com) Perimeter Knobs and Pulls: Anne at Home Horse Collection, generic polished chrome knobs, cup pulls, and bar pulls (from Myknobs.com) Wall Paint: BM Revere Pewter Trim, Hood, and Fireplace Paint: Valspar Bright White (from Lowes) Perimeter Counters: IKEA Butcher Block, stained Black with India Ink and sealed with Waterlox Island Counter: IKEA Butcher Block, sealed with Watco food safe butcher block sealer Main Sink: Whitehaus 36" farm sink (from Vintagetub.com) Island Sink: IKEA single Domsjo, undermounted instead of the usual overmount installation Faucets: IKEA Hjuvik Refrigerator: Because we grow a lot of what we eat (so we don't need to store much) and have a large fridge in an adjacent laundry room, we chose a generic small undercounter fridge (Home Depot, off the shelf) Wine chiller: Sunbeam (Home Depot, off the shelf) Dishwashers: Kenmore and Hotpoint, both existing and 5-7 years old Microwaves: 8 year old Kenmores Island Oven: IKEA Datid 30" Hood: ProLine 36" range hood (from eBay) Range: IKEA Praktfull Pro A50 Backsplash Behind Range: Handthrown Williamsburg brick (local brickyard, left over from another project) Flooring: Lumber Liquidators, Hand Scraped Teak Island and Sink Pendants: IKEA Ottava Cabinet lights: IKEA Grundtal single puck lights Chandelier over the Table: Progress lighting, black 5-light chandelier (Home Depot, off the shelf) Fireplace: Style Selections 36" Vent Free LP fireplace (LoweÂs, off the shelf) A few notes about the remodel, just to hit some discussion points I see come up a lot in this Forum: Our kitchen lives in a big old 1840 farmhouse, which has been part of a working farm since the day it was built. Originally it was soybeans, but now it's part of a gentleman's farm (horses, heritage gardens and poultry), so everything has to be hard wearing and practical. It needs to stand up to heavy traffic, mud, hay, tools, and the occasional chicken (though usually when they wander in, they don't go much further than the family room, because they like the television). That definitely informed our choices for surfaces-- they needed to be hard cleanable, and ultimately easily refinished or replaced down the line. Because the entire house already has strong architectural elements (huge moldings and built-ins), we worked within the style we already had-- all the kitchen moldings, mantels, panels and cabinets match (or are closely styled after) what already exists in the house. We definitely didn't do a period kitchen (we wanted a 2010 layout with all the conveniences), but we wanted the kitchen to look like it belonged in the house. The big thing for us was budget-- believe it or not, the entire kitchen was done for UNDER $20K. Four big things contributed to that: 1/ We DIY'ed the ENTIRE project, start to finish. The only thing we hired out was the gas line install for the fireplace and range, because state law requires it. Other than that, all planning, demo, sourcing, and construction was on us. Might be why it took us 8 years. . . 2/ We reused what we could, and scrounged a lot, especially construction materials (which could have been buckets of money, considering all the custom work we did in the space), and kept what appliances we could. It was also a great way to be environmentally responsible on a project that, let's face it, has a lot of non-necessities involved. 3/ IKEA, IKEA, IKEA. If you're anywhere reasonably close to an IKEA, and you're on anything approaching a budget, go check it out. The cabinet quality for the price can't be beat (except for a few pockets of custom cabinet makers), and there are a lot of great accessories, appliances, lighting and other things to be had for a terrific price. As always, you have to pick and choose your items for quality and value, but at least in our experience, it is definitely there to be had for the buyer with a good eye. 4/ We didn't go for major appliance upgrades. Our whole family LOVES to cook (and eat!), and we wanted a great looking, functional space to do it all in, but we just weren't convinced that we needed more than the basics right now. If we want to upgrade down the line, it's easy enough to do, but right now our Wolf budget is standing in our barn eating hay, and our LaCanche budget is steered towards this Show Hunter prospect I have my eye on . . . So there's our formula for a great kitchen that works for us considering the (kind of odd!) parameters we had. Hope you all can take at least something useful away from our experience. I've submitted the kitchen to the FKB, and I'll answer whatever questions you've got. . . Thanks again, everyone!

I haven't installed mine yet, but it is going to be the very large Blanco Silgranit Super Single #511-652 in the Anthracite color. I really wanted a single-bowl sink, which I remembered we had in our house growing up. Somewhere in the 1980's my Mom re-did the kitchen, and that's when we got a double-bowl. And in the various apartments and houses I've lived in since then, they've all come with double-bowl sinks. But in all these years, I've wanted to go back to the single-bowl sink of my childhood. As others have stated, you can soak large pans with still room left in the sink, and there's no divider to get in your way. And I just like the way a rectangular single-bowl looks too, so simple and spare. I was all set to get stainless steel single-bowl sink until this Forum (which is what makes this Forum so great!). I read all the enthusiastic threads about Silgranit, and decided to get that instead of SS. I've always disliked the water marks of SS, and Silgranit won't have that problem. If you do a search on this Forum, you'll see great photos of the Silgranit sinks that people have, and I like the Anthracite, but it also comes in brown, biscuit and white. I've also learned the value of an "offset drain", a phrase which I'd never heard of before this forum. The link below shows the sink I've bought. It fits in a 36" base. It says it's a drop-in, but it can also be installed as an undermount, which is what I am doing. Here is a link that might be useful: Blanco Silgranit Blancodiamond Super Single