1. Not usually, unless you build it yourself , don't put a $$$ value on your time spent and get a goo deal on hard rock maple. 2.Yes, and no , though a decent book about woodworking will have the techniques you'll need. Fine Woodworking / Taunton would be a place to start. they are in a nutshell: the ability to thickness and dimension wood accurately, and lots of good clamps with a capacity of 30+" and the the length of the run of the block you are making. If you have to buy tooling to do these operations , you will automatically negate any savings you might realize. A 6" jointer is essential as well as a router with 1.5 or more horsepower. A surface planer is almost a requirement but could be worked around. This is a fairly complex project and not really for the weekend warrior or neophyte.

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.

I purchased my IKEA butcher block countertops about 10 years ago and stored them for a couple more years before install. They had changed sizes and had the original size for 80% off and I couldn't resist a bargain. A few years later I picked up a Herbeau fireclay sink for $40 at ReStore and decided it was time to tackle my kitchen update. I finished the countertops with multiple coats of pure tung oil over a couple of weeks. Shortly after that, my hubby and I went on vacation and had a friend's girlfriend stay with the children for a week. I returned to find that she had used a dishtowel laid on the countertop to drain handwashed dishes. The water sitting on the countertop soaked through the finish and damaged the counter. Over the years since, we have had several more instances of damage and now have a split beside the sink. When we initially installed the counter, we were most concerned about the seam we needed several inches from the sink. We ended up using an epoxy product and the seam has been the most successful part of the installation. In summary, I won't use IKEA butcherblock again. The quality of the wood just doesn't meet my quality standards with too many knots, and uneven pieces. I also wouldn't use any butcherblock near water because I don't want to have to worry about a visitor or cleaner damaging the surface accidentally. I'm planning to use either Corian or a stone remnant for my laundry room remodel.

Do you know who makes those cabinets? Info on the pic says they were custom made. But you can use this picture as an inspiration picture. Start looking through your yellow pages for custom cabinet makers. Also ask friends where they got their cabinets. If you are looking at big box stores, I would say Kraft Maid from Lowe's would be a good choice. However, price out custom, there are many on here who got custom for the same price or less as big box. And do you live near an Amish area? Some on here have gotten great custom Amish cabs at great prices. Again, ask around. And if you do a search on here, lots of very happy Ikea cabinet owners. It shouldn't be hard to find what you are looking for. Also, where would I find solid surface counter tops? Lowe's sell's LG Hi-Mac and Home Depot sells Corian around here. There are other brands as well. (Joseph Corlett could list them all, I don't know them all, as I am focused on Corian myself) Again, try looking at kitchen and flooring shops in your area. You can also go to the website of any brand and they should have a dealer locater. Now Joseph will say they are all the same. Maybe they are, but all I can say is, in researching (an insane amount) LG Hi-Mac "seems" to have an awful lot of cracking issues. Corian use only their trained fabricators so maybe that's why there are less issues. Thank you so much for the great suggestion and for the photos. You are very welcome, I'm glad I could be of help. :)