ugh.... we are just at this point now and realized that our new counter/breakfast bar is 12' with the sink cutout dead center. My wife is stuck on an undermount and we really wanted granite... we will, of course, be getting a few fabricators to bid it. But is it feasible to do the seam with a cutout at the seam? The front edge of the sink seems a bit vulnerable to me. Also the current layout has the dishwasher adjacent to the sink and I guess we'd need to get the cabinet built with a support at the seam. If we can seam at the sink it would be small, just the length of the front setback (breakfast bar transitions to countertop there)... how well does the bullnose normally line up on a seam? Do they polish it on-site? Are we better off getting used to NOT granite? The 12' counter is not negotiable in our design.

I've been wondering about this as well. I have two parts to this post. An experiment and a question. Pardon my ignorance, but I'm still learning a lot of this stuff. Nothing in my current kitchen is even close to what I'm slowly learning is considered standard. Experiment: I've owned and lived with my current kitchen for 20 years. Reading the above post and considering my renovation, I had to go and check my current kitchen and test the things stated above. I have 22 inch countertop depth (yes, that is correct). The tile border extends 1/2 inch beyond the base cabinets, and the drawers are 1/2 inch as well so they are flush give or take a 1/32. The pulls on the drawers stick out 1 1/4 inch. I have had issues with spills that drip into the lip of the drawer and occasionally I have to wipe the sides down, but nothing that is hard to cleanup, and they are white painted drawers. After reading this post I leaned into my countertop/cabinet to test out the theory that you will feel the pulls if you lean into it. If I purposely lean into the cabinet, I do feel the pulls on my legs. But I have to make a real effort to do that and in 20 years this has never ever even occurred to me as an issue. Maybe I'm just not the type that hugs up close to my countertop. So I doubt this will be an issue I obsess about. There are too many others... I found this a fascinating experiment. My question: So what is considered a standard countertop depth? It seems like the 24 inch cabinets are the base cabinets. A 3/4 in door makes the total cabinet depth without the handle 24 3/4. So what is considered standard? 26? 27?

My architect/designer sez these days Granite prices lower than nearly all the other solid surfaces and contributes to its popularity espec if u r not looking for esoteric colors. Marble, which i have alot of in our offices for multiple conf and other tables, even in a dark shade, is "delicate" in the sense that it is brittle and can crack etc, and in a lite color maintenance is brutal b/c it will stain (not an issue with, say, a dark wine color marble like we have but it does crack). I have seen some Granite Tiles used where costs need trimming and when done in larger tiles, and done well and creatively, the look is acceptable and grout lines minimal. So you may be able to compromise in one area this way...it is the long lengths of granite that set you back. Soapstone is a joy b/c of the touch, and if you like it oiled up black, stains not an issue. Natural colors of soapstone are lovely but we have only used that in dining area cabinet tops in bar-like areas...and natural is not good for kitchen. (It also is great in bathrooms, even flooring b/c it isnt slippery). But soapstone is a more old-fashioned/colonial like look...not slick and modern My favorite for counters is Stainless Steel!!! installed in 1993 i still love it. But i would then warm up the look by having the island be done in something else. Also St.Steel with dark wood cabs really look warm and approachable.

Looking at the photos again reminds me that we need to figure out how to finish the microwave cabinet. Lol..right now it has a drawer front attached to a forvarva drawer, but it's sitting on the drawer to low. There is also another drawer that was bought to go in the pantry sitting on the shelf above the lower drawer. I have a 5" drawer front, but we think we may just put a 15" there instead. We will definately replace the bottom drawer with a maximera. I didn't put it there because the drawer is my dish towels and dish clothes. But maximera's are easier to install and are worth the extra $ over all.