I was looking at this for my window sill which is 6" deep and 10 feet long. But given the way they price their material, ie. field tiles are the same as any 12x12 granite tile at about $10 or so each, their special bullnosed tiles which are 12x12 with a bullnosed edge attached, run about $70 each (at my local tile store) to use their system I would have needed 10 bullnose tiles, at a material cost of about $700. My granite fabricator cam back with a quote of about $550 extra for the sill if I had him do it at the same time as the rest of the counters. While I'm all about DIY, I'm not going to spend more for the privelege of doing all the work myself. :-) If you are doing a normal counter where a siginificant portion of the surface can be the $10 /sqft field tiles, you can get a granite counter for less than a granite slab counter would be.

Have you taken the Sweeby test yet? You have a lot of wonderful ideas but definitely need to arrive first at your blurry unfocused final picture, then add in all the elements that belong there, where they belong, and pass regretfully on others that don't work in that picture. Maybe like coloring in outline drawings of your kitchen with pearly tile and copper and stainless, or stainless, with or without brick, hmmm, or let's see what it looks like with this.... "1970s faux spanish ranch house theme" "love the look of rustic against "blingy" ? BTW, I love the idea of tile on your island, and likely your backsplash. How about a handcrafted tile, perhaps a fusion of old rancho with pearlescent? Regarding having the underside of the eating counter a "focal point" from the FRM and entry, my reaction is a knee-jerk noooooo. With stools/chairs in front, that's an area the eye should skip right on past--to settle on something genuinely handsome. Even with no stools, that area should only bea contributing portion of the entire view, with focus moving right on past to something important. Wouldn't dark walnut with a scrubbable finish be great for hiding shoe smudges? It would be for allowing focus to keep moving to...what will your focal point be? Regarding lighting up your counters, I sure don't think it's "too much" if done right. But, since this would create a rather dramatic effect of a horizontal band of light each evening, is a horizontal band what your room needs? Does it echo a horizontal effect elsewhere? Will your counters describe a very pleasing continuous shape, length of band in proper proportion to the rest of the area? Is focusing attention on that portion of the kitchen the best option or is there something else that might be lit up to better effect? Lighting is a major design tool and feature, but it does need to fulfill a design purpose.

I want to thank everyone for their inputs so far! I reached out to some granite fabricators today and already got back estimates from one, with potential options for just the island, or replacing ALL countertops in the kitchen. Apparently the stones I like are a lot cheaper than I thought - just based on that one estimate, we're likely going to change all the countertops, not just the island. This actually solves a LOT of my problems, especially with regards to the flooring. The New Venetian Gold (?) granite I currently have is BUSY looking and a very eye-catching/dominant color. I searched high and low, including on Houzz, for that specific top and other brown granite tops with white cabinets. Every single decent example had "wood" flooring. I refuse to bring hardwood to the kitchen, which really only left me with the tile and I would have been ok with the "fakeness" of the wood look tile next to the hardwood - I wasn't trying to match the hardwood, just complement it. I feel like I have more tile options now, by going with a white/grey stone that is less busy. Waiting to get other estimates this week, but we're likely going to go with something like Himalaya White granite!

In all candor, most high bar stools/seats are not that comfortable to sit on for an extended time, if at all. Do you really NEED a bar with bar seating or would an open room divider better serve your purposes? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45106433745064156/  Another option might be a room dividing cabinet or peninsula for the kitchen and then add on the family room side a wall mounted folding table (lift/drop board/shelf ) that could serve as a bar as needed with table height chairs but be out of the way when not needed. https://www.scullyandscully.com/furniture/folding-furniture/folding-tables/eco-snack-table-set-of-2.axd?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8vz_paWG8AIVArSzCh0JTArCEAQYAiABEgLQXPD_BwE Some of these kinds of tv tray tables are sturdy and some are not. If you can find the sturdy ones, check them out and see if that might serve your purposes as well as a bar. https://www.scullyandscully.com/furniture/folding-furniture/folding-tables/eco-snack-table-set-of-2.axd?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8vz_paWG8AIVArSzCh0JTArCEAQYAiABEgLQXPD_BwE