This is just my opinion but: Ornamented corners seem now to be associated with DIY. The corner comes premade (Inside corner or outside corner) so the do-it-yourselfer does not have to worry about mitering. Thus, even though it is more ornamental, to me it makes me think of work that is amateur because of its associations. The other thing perhaps is that ornamented segments of mouldings were very specific to certain periods of American architecture, mostly in the victorian era, and I feel that that is where they are appropriate. My particular block is c.1840, with some relatively ornate cornices and centerpieces and yet there are no ornamented corners --that was later victoriana, and even then they weren't used in rooms with lower ceiling heights. If the ceiling approached 9 or 8 feet, the mouldings were plainer.

brickeyee - Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the layout changed because of the poorly finished materials (KM cabinets). The molding would have fit fine without the end panels. I guess this is something to take into consideration when planning the layout. Don't fill in every inch but leave breathing space just in case. I hope I get use to it! Or it will drive me crazy. One or the other. Clare

The first issue is that wouldn't be heat resistant enough behind the cooktop. It will scorch. You'd need to have a range with a backguard on it, or do that section in stainless. A full height backplash is usually done as a separate set on piece, because of the difficulty of fitting around all of the cabinets. (That's how all stone full height backsplashes are done, like below, with a bead of silicone in between the two.) That doesn't lend itself to coving, only set on. However, if they did the standard coved backsplash and then did a separate piece on top of that, and then joined them, that might work to give you the look. It will be darn expensive. The only fabricator locally that still does it charges $40 a foot for it, which isn't far from the material cost itself. So, it almost doubles the price of the counter, and you're already almost doubling the price because of the added material for the full backsplash. We had some issues with the stone fitting perfectly around the arch of the hood liner, even though we cut it a bit larger to cover the edge of it. We had to do some molding pieces to hide the edges.

I am so grateful for this feedback I have received today. And thank you again PPF and Bryan911 for all the helpful details. I am going to see about a new upper cabinet. We’ve put too much into this project to let two upper cabinets good us up :) I had a lot of people including a designer I hired for a short time out eyes on this, and we still missed it. Just goes to show you how difficult it can be to build a house and get all the details to work out as hoped. PPF — the reason we broke up the expanse of the pantry door with shaker panels was since we wanted it to look integrates with the cabinetry and to break up the tall doors since we have 10’ ceilings. I do agree also about hinges that can be hidden. It also annoys me that they are such a bright gold when my lights and cabinet hardware will be more of an aged, satin brass. Is it easy to switch out hinges and not mess up the doors?