We have a U-shaped kitchen, open to the dining room, with the sink at the end. Anything on the counters near the sink is visible from the dining room. The only time things tend to get piled up near the sink is if we can't put dirty dishes in the DW, because it's full of clean dishes. That situation never lasts too long. Anything more than that (needs to be hand washed, too lazy to open the DW) can easily hide in the sink. We love our sink tip-out for scrubbies, and hang our dishcloth in the sink (scroll down to the bottom of the attached link). Here is a link that might be useful: dishcloth solution

I don't know what you intend to do regarding backsplash height (that's the distance b/w the finished counter and the bottom of the upper cabinet and light rail), but here's what I usually tell people when they're considering the height for their backsplash. The standard is 18"...regardless of the reasons why, it's still the standard.. How this affects your kitchen.... Refrigerator and other tall cabinet heights...Because wall cabinets are meant to be mounted at a standard height, cabinet manufacturers take this into account when designing tall cabinets. Tall cabinets are designed to be the same height as the installed wall cabinets so the tops all line up. When you change the height a wall cabinet is installed at, it affects cabinet top alignments. With the refrigerator you can usually mount the upper cabinet a little lower OR order a shorter upper cabinet, but be sure you don't make the alcove any shorter than 72" tall b/c newer refrigerators are 70" to 72" tall (and seem to get taller each year!) With other tall cabinets like oven cabinets and pantry cabinets, they're a standard height and designed so they're the same height as the wall cabinets when those wall cabinets are installed 18" above a 36" high counter. If you have custom cabinets, this may not be an issue b/c your cabinetmaker can adjust the cabinet heights. But, if you are using stock or even some semi-custom cabinets, you cannot change the height. You can often get taller cabinets for use w/36" or 42" tall wall cabinets, but not shorter for 30" mounted lower. But, even those that are taller are also adjusted based on standard wall cabinet heights + an 18" backsplash height. Small appliance height...Small appliance manufacturers often design their products to meet this 18" standard...for example, my KA stand mixer (bowl lift) is around 17" and many coffeemakers and blenders are just short of 18". So, you need to be sure you have room under the cabinets + light rail to fit those appliances. Small appliances... Keep in mind that if you're using an appliance on your counter, you must be sure you have room under the base cabinets to move that appliance around easily. Don't, for example, tell yourself you're only going to use it in front of your upper cabinets so you don't need to worry about its fit. In reality, you will be moving things around on your counter while you work and most likely your appliance will be moved under the cabinets at some point. You don't want to tear your light rail off or damage it (or the cabinets). Also remember that "standard" upper cabinets are 12" deep + 1" for the door...so they stick out 13" over your counter...leaving you only 12" or so of workspace in front of the upper cabinets...not much room to work in by itself! (If you have deeper upper cabinets...say 15", there's even less counter frontage in front of your upper cabinets...3" less, so 9".) Vertical workspace... Another consideration is vertical work...

I'd keep it the standard 18" between counter and cabinet.

It’s a raised bar, likely the standard 42”. The GC said they would have to add support. There is plenty of room. Wife and I will eat dinner there at night, which is why we are adding a TV above the fridge. Will also be used a lot for parties and get-togethers. The peninsula will go just in front (out of picture) of the cabinets you see at the very bottom of the picture. There will be a sink in that cabinet set. TV goes just above the Subzero fridge large cutout on left. MUA and HVAC vent to left of TV. Fridge is French Door, flush install, hence the 7” border on left part of frame to allow for full articulation of the Left door. 30” Wolf M-series bottom right, Wolf CSO above (incorrectly framed at the moment).