You lose the elevated space as prep space if you raise it. Cosidering that is it's primary purpose, there's no way I'd cheat myself out if that sdditional sq footage on a day to day basis. Raising it means it also becomes less functional as a place to serve from since you will only be able to lay out food/drinks etc on the raised part-- and you'll miss the chance to have an awesome layout space for projects (not just for kids-- sewing, art, etc have times when a large flat surface is a godsend). Counter height is less uncomfortable than bar height to those with height sensitivities (e.g. Very young or very old). Go with counter height.

We may be in the minority, but we really like bar-height seating so that is what we are doing for our breakfast bar. I am 5'11", DH is 6'1".

Depends on your tolerance level for looking at a messy kitchen. I like the bar height for hiding a working kitchen until it gets cleaned. Looking straight on at the sink waiting to be done is not relaxing, and I don't want to always clean up before eating except when entertaining.

Neither DH nor I sit at our bar height counter, but we have guests who seem to gravitate toward it sometimes. I've used it and my island for buffets at times and have dining tables for large projects so I can satisfy my need for orderliness without missing the lower kitchen counter. Others feel differently so you really need to consider how you enjoy living in the space.

I loved our enormous counter height peninsula in our old house...I used it for buffets, projects, rolling out cookies, and my children ate there a lot. In the house we our building, I made sure my large (4.5' x 8.5') island was all one level, counter level. I can't wait to get in there and use it!

We dropped ours to counter height. The additional prep space -- for food prep, wrapping presents, frosting cake, as a landing space when unloading groceries from car, is wonderful.

It also is great for having a buffet -- you can put so much more on the bar. Also, I don't know if you have kids, but if you are prepping and they are doing homework on the other side and they have questions, it makes it easier to help them . . . . .

Thanks for the feedback!

At counter height the depth will need to be extended to allow for knees not hitting the wall. That extra overhang I would thing probably means that posts will need to be put in at the end, correct?

At least we have plenty of space available to support the extra depth.

Here is a rendering with 18" of overhang shown.

I made the peninsula counter 30" deep to give me more work space and it's more than adequate. If I was working on a large project (sewing, art, wrapping gifts, etc.) where I needed to spread out I'd use the dining room table.

We love having a raised bar! Ours is 18" deep and we eat most meals on it. Dh/guests sit at it and chat with me while I cook without being in my space. It's just a very comfortable part of the kitchen that I'm so glad we chose.

Great idea, natal, to make the counter there 6" deeper. We have a total width in the kitchen (between unmovable walls) of 12'. So if we make the peninsula counter 30" and the opposite (cleanup sink) counter 24", then we will still have 7.5' in the middle of the space.

Chaparral, it's a small detail that makes a big difference.

The other thing that I just was thinking is that by having the raised bar it would allow for a couple AC outlets for the appliances we use either regularly (blender) or occasionally (ice cream maker, champion juicer). Having the extra depth would be great for these. Plus the raised bar sort of "finishes off" a formal-ish defined eating area by having it raised.

We will be doing wrapping / sewing etc. in our new great room (combined living/dining) at the dining room table where there will be storage for those materials.

It's hard to ignore the fact that if I google on "contemporary kitchen design" and look at the images, only about 10% of them have raised breakfast bars. Most are at counter depth. Is this a shift in current kitchen design thinking?

Obviously we should build for how we will use it, not based on trends.

Leaning towards the raised bar and 3-6" deeper countertop in front of it.

Material we are thinking of using for countertop is a pre-cast concrete product called FUEZ, in the "River" finish:

http://www.fuez.com/details.php?line=FuezStone

Do you like sitting at bar height or counter height? I am short and I have never liked bar height. I will RARELY sit at a bar when I am at a restaurant or bar. If I am at people's house, I do not really like sitting at the bar height. I however, find that island seating is much more comfortable for me. Obviously, the table height is even better. Build for your comfort. If you have very little kids, they probably won't be able to sit at the bar height for a longer period of time than the island level. My kids were able to climb onto the counter height stool by the time they were 3 or 4.

I would put outlets on the wall that is partially connected to the eating area and you can use your appliances there.

You can support the island over hang with hidden metal brackets that lay under the counter. These brackets are about 1 inch in thickeness and you don't see them. I really find the wedge/triangle shaped brackets that support the island not attractive and troublesome. I had them in my old kitchen and they "chewed" up the bar stools and beat them up. They also look beat up from the stools banging on them!

They look similar to this but this isn't it exactly. Mine look nicer...

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fireplacecarolina.com/Portals/70178/images//DSCF0032-resized-600.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fireplacecarolina.com/granite-charlotte/countertop-support/&usg=__diH4hQ9MxfVcYvN3LvXwQiEuDXM=&h=450&w=600&sz=597&hl=en&start=2&sig2=klerI8nPKluTqytNNuNjSg&zoom=1&tbnid=2pVUqv9M9tiGqM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&ei=hJlBTvS1EZTRiALHz5yWBQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmetal%2Bbrackets%2Bfor%2Bisland%2Bsupport%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1004%26bih%3D638%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1

I'm a fan of the raised bar as noted above, but the trend is counter height. Doesn't persuade me at all, but whichever you end up with consider other methods of supporting your extension if brackets or posts don't appeal. We have a solid 12" support nailed into the knee wall which provides great hidden support, but you can get the hidden metal braces installed also. If you wind up with counter height, outlets can be installed in the sides of islands or in hidden strips along the sides under the counter if you don't want your cabinet cut.

Architect suggested wrapping the raised bar around the end like this--

(he suggests things, I mock them up using Interior Design 3D on the Mac)

If we did this, I would probably move the towards the stove more.

Our kids are 16 and 19, and like the idea of the raised bar. If we had little kids I wouldn't do it.

Architect suggested wrapping the raised bar around as shown below to "finish off" the end of the peninsula. If we did this I'd move the sink down towards the stove, which would provide a 5.5' work surface to the left of the sink and then a corner area with about 4.5' linear feet before the stove.

I like how this looks. But what I don't like about that is that we couldn't put groceries / food items directly on the surface from the side.

I agree that the wrap around is not practical for placing groceries but it will allow non-linear seating. I love bar height peninsulas to provide overflow space, to have a landing spot for conversing with guests so they're not in my kitchen, but they aren't the best for promoting conversation between those seated. Perhaps you've already considered and decided this, but if not addressing this now may help you get the best plan. Will this peninsula be your daily eating area as a family? Perhaps a more circular counter configuration may work. With 7'6" of space between the peninsula and rear wall you have the room.

I like that you moved the sink away from the end to provide more counter space. Also makes water more accessible for cooking, whether raised or counter. In one rendering you have two sinks. Do you need two for your lifestyle?

My fridge and peninsula are similarly configured. I never put anything on the peninsula from the side , mainly because there's always something sitting there ... right now a stack of Ina Garten's cookbooks. ;)

I like that you moved the sink closer to the stove. Looks better and makes more sense.

Sorry, I now see you have a separate thread about the prep sink. I agree w/natal that the ledge won't pose a problem since you have landinga by the fridge and the stove. You can easily use the peninsula anyway now that you've moved the prep sink.

Still wonder about rounding out the countertop though.

I think the counter top material will be rounded off at the edges. There are a lot of corners in the architecture. I like how the raised bar will prevent backsplash from the sink. We'll just have to spend some time finding super comfy bar-height chairs.

we are just finishing a 2-level peninsula similar to your plan. will post pictures soon. we were well aware that this is "off trend" but figured that by the time the kitchen is finished, it will be almost back "on trend" again!

you just have to go with what you need to function best. hiding all the s*#% (stuff) from the dining area was big for us. we also really enjoy sitting at a counter.

my husband makes pasta a lot and likes the idea of having 2 levels-- one to work on, and one to dry the pasta on.

we put outlets all along the 6in. support, as you had mentioned above. we also put one outlet facing toward the bar side (also in the support) which i think will be handy. i also had an idea (after the fact) to build in a little soap/sponge holder into the 6inch support right by the sink. it would have been nice. ah, well. next kitchen.

as mentioned and shown above, we also used hidden brackets for support. they are routed into the side so the face piece went over them and then the under-counter part of the bracket does not show at all.

we didn't have room for the corner bar section that you show in the last picture. i like the look-- it does seem to update the bar look-- but don't know how it would work for your situation.
have fun!
kawh

Thanks kawh707-- looking forward to seeing your pics! Post soon! Guess I need to take the family out to dinner and request bar seating ;)

FWIW we've decided to go with counter height seating, and reduce the base cabinet length to allow for an end niche for a seat. So we could set the space for up to seating for 4, with 3 on one leg and a fourth at the end. Since the family room is behind the seating at the bar, there wasn't any point to us in raising the bar to hide the prep surface. It will be a great landing zone for my Saturday farmer's market haul, and a bit more friendly for our older guests, which we will be someday too.

I've allowed for 22" of overhang in the seating zone. I'll have to dig through old threads to see if this is appropriate.

Still have to work out the details of the design; for instance architect suggested integrating a small bookshelf at the end for cookbooks.

The sink will definitely be bigger than shown above.

Thanks for all the help!

chaparral - i know this is an old thread but I'm going through this same dilemna right now. The only difference is my potential mess could be seen from the front door of our home! That's what makes me so nervous. I like the bar height hides the mess while cooking but I don't think it's a functional with seating. Can I glean anything from your experience now that you have moved forward with your project? Thanks!