essdana, I put some olive oil on a paper towel last night and dabbed it on a couple of cornes of the sink cutout I experiment on. It didn't soak in, just sort of sat there. I let it sit there over night and this morning, I wiped it up. Because it didn't soak in, I ended up just sort of smearing it over about half of the top. Then that half actually looked better! Kind of like when I put the wood polish on only half the dining room table, the second half looks sort of "dry," if you know what I mean. This morning, I wiped down the whole surface when I did some leftover dishes-- knives and utensils with wooden handles that don't go in the D/W. It looks pretty much the same now. If you want to do your own experiments, you can get one of those small black cutting boards made by Epicurean. They are literally the same material-- the thinner thickness, I think they are scraps from the Skatelite product they make skateboard ramps from, but the same material. That way, you could test with products more likely to be abused in a bathroom, esp. of a B&B.

I think you could but then I'm notoriously unhandy and have been set straight a number of times by DH or contractors on the exact was to accomplish something. In my old kitchen with an L-shaped arrangement the range sat a one end of the short leg on a raised platform. The sink was in the middle of the long leg and the dishwasher sat next to it on a raised platform. All of the base cabinets were built with a standard toekick and an extra 2 inches in the useful space so that the countertop sat at 38" high. I don't see why the cabinets couldn't also sit on a raised plywood base along with the appliances but you're probably better off asking the cabinet maker as they would have the practical knowledge of how to do this.

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...

There are many quartzes that look like this. Check out MSI Stone.