Thanks everyone for the nice compliments. I got so many good tips from this forum. The biggest tip I got here was to use mostly drawers in the bottom. I was worried at first but my gosh, it is fantastic! I can't believe everyone that does a new kitchen doesn't do this. Everything is so accessible and you actually have more storage. In fact, I have so much storage I still have drawers that don't have anything in them yet. And this isn't a huge kitchen, I think it is 11' x 12' or so. Lynn, I answered you question about the hard wood on the post in the decorating forum where I posted pics of the rest of my house. The floors are by Shaw, 5" plank engineered, satin finish. The color change hasn't been dramatic, just gives them a richer color. Easy to care for so far. Thanks for the thought on sealing after oiling. I was planning to sand them down first but I will definitely check and see if it will work.

I know this post is old but i thought i should add something for other readers who might stumble on this page... I would NOT ever purchase a countertop from Blockhead block tops again! I ordered a counter top and he told me he would ship it last Saturday or on the coming Monday. Well its been over a week and no counter top. Even if they sent it on Monday it should have been here 3 days ago at the longest. I have called and left messages and written them many times and they do not ever call or write back. Not only that but the guy who makes the tops was very condescending and treated me like I couldn't know anything because I am a woman. that was the feeling I got from him. I would not do business with this company again.

We have a counter with about 6 foot run of end cut light color wood that over 20 years old now. I don't use anything. Normal cleaning is with a sponge and water or alcohol and a sponge . Since its light in color a can will leave a ring if is sits wet to long so my heavy duty cleaning is hydrogen peroxide ( the simple grocery store type 3% solution )with a lightly abrasive type sponge. If I have a bad stain I just pore it out and lay a kitchen towel over it to keep it wet ( use gloves it will dry your hands out something awful ) . The counter is used for working with dough and flour. My wife thinks she should use it as a cutting board ( that's why she had it installed ) which is the same to me as dragging fingernails over a chalk board . Please don't use you counter top as a cutting board use cutting boards.

Waterlox is phenolic resin (ie plastic) mixed with tung oil. It looks and behaves a lot more like a varnish than an oil finish. (but considerably harder than most varnish). It reportedly can be recoated without stripping or sanding. It forms a layer of finish on top of the wood. I tried some and didn't care for the look. I finished my 3" cherry countertops with Polymerized tung oil, from Lee Valley. 4 coats top and bottom before installation. I reoil every 3-4 months. Seems sturdier and longer lasting than mineral oil. looks very similar. I have two sections. one I sort of fastened down with two #10 screws in 1/2" holes and the second piece I never got around to putting in the screws. The weight of the countertop plus the caulking between the top and the backsplash seems to hold the top in place pretty securely. Which is a good thing because the loose screws (which are the recommended installation) would let the counter slide back and forth about 3/8". If I ever had to remove the first section, I would not bother repacing the screws.