Thank you for responding!! I checked this post a few times Monday morning, didn't see any reponses and then got so busy at work I forgot all about it :) lascatx: I love the idea of a towel bar there even the magazine slot is a great idea...so creative! Then it looks more deliberate and not something that we had no choice about. sjhockeyfan: "I would imagine that when the breakfast bar was cut down, that piece of wall was already there. The cabinet portion was also already there. Once the OP elected to have a new piece put on adjacent to the existing piece, there would have been no choice but to cover the top of the pony wall." - you hit the nail, that is exactly why we had no choice but to cover the wall. BTW we do have an outlet right behind the pony wall extremely close to the counter. Treb: the only other choice was cutting the wall, replacing flooring and DH didn't want to go that route. I wish I could have replaced the granite and redone it totally but that would be a bit crazy since the house is barely two years old and the kitchen is brand new. For me it was more about improving the functionality of the space. As far as practical use of space goes, we've used that space so much more in the past 4 days (we got it done last weekend) than we ever did when it was raised :) The raised bar at least for us was like a clutter magnet. No one ever sat there except sometimes DS who now just loves the one level space. It has totally changed the space for the better!! Would NEVER EVER want to go back to the raised bar again :)

We are planning a much needed renovation of our 1976 kitchen. The white laminate countertop is in perfect shape. Though there is a slate tile countertop for the cooktop counter, there is a a thin white laminate backsplash 4" away from the cooktop. Granted it's an electric coil cooktop, but still. The laminate is also perfect. And the original 1950s laminate countertop is in the basement. Though the metal cabs have rusted under the countertop, the laminate still looks good -- 20 plus years in a family kitchen then 40 years as a basement work space.

Thanks for the responses. Technically the wood is 7/8” long. It’s 36-7/8”. I’m just going to trim an inch. Honestly we don’t even use the breakfast bar. I’d take it off completely but I think it would look bad and we use it when we have parties for food. We can put a lot on this peninsula. I’m not really worried about 11” vs 12” depth but I really do appreciate the consideration. The installers are going to put down new plywood. One more question. My peninsula is 96-1/2” long and the prefabricated peninsula is 98” Long on top but but when I measured its 96-1/4” underneath for the cabinet. Do you think the installers will be able to trim 1/4” off the lip on the underside of the slab? It’s only supposed to have 1-1/2” lip but it must be 1-3/4”. Seems to me like they can trim 1/4 off pretty easily. Not like it matters. Or would it be wiser to take a router and buzz off 1/4” of the end of the peninsula/cabinet just at the top edge? I would be worried that the cabinet would splinter. My gut says the installers will just buzz a little off the cantilever edge underneath right? The slab is plenty long. The lip is just a little bigger than it should be. Like I said they told me it was 1-1/2” so i figures it would be perfect 98 minus 1.5” but I measured it and it’s 1-3/4”. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Honestly again I’m getting a smoking deal. I had quotes as high as 11k for slabs/fab/install. I have 2 bathrooms with 2 sinks each. One bathroom with a. Single sink. Laundry room countertop. And my kitchen has a built in desk that I’m doing in granite. My master bath counter is 10’ long. It’s all going to match and be the same granite for $5,500 installed.

It is the light bulbs in your under counter lights making the backsplash such a yellow green color. I would like to see the wainscotting same color as the sides of the island, which looks the same color as your cabinets.