Hi Chocolatebunny, I like the backsplash. I think it looks simple and lovely. I have the same simple white sq tile backsplash. And my granite counters were installed right up to them. I kept the backsplash because I could not find something I liked better. I thought about white subway but then my DH said. "Won't that be too similar to what you already have?" And so I kept the sq white. And 1 year later I am so glad I did. I like it. Granite or Quartz or Corian or even laminate can go right next to the old backsplash. And with new counters you won't even notice the backsplash. It will be simple skirt with the beautiful blouse. The simple side dish to the rich meal. I know there might be issues of height and having to cut. But this is what we did. We put plywood on top of the cabinets. It was a support system for the upgraded counters and it brought the level of the granite up to the space we wanted on the BS. I had ugly thick white tile with white grout before so there was a thick backing but still not high enough to meet the BS. There are many things you can do. I wanted to raise my counters as I am fairly tall and like it up 1/2 inch higher. Have you visited Dupont's site? Not to buy Corian or Quartz or even granite but to see the different colors available and how they match up to similar cab colors. I loved this little tool to play with while I searched for what I wanted in my own kitchen. I think an exotic granite might be different than your neighbors. Something with movement and yes leather them or honed the surface and get some fun. And lastly what about white Marble. Marble would look yummy with your cabinets. And white would match those tiles and go with any color. ~boxer A granite with great movement Copper Canyon Golden River Honed Granite with beautiful movement Eco Counters with great colors and this is NOT granite. Quartz white and pretty Copper might be a fun different counter... Marble

I loved the Berkeley, too... Looks beautiful in your kitchen! I think we are leaning towards Windermere. My husband really likes Bellingham but when I look at pictures of it on Houzz, all that black scares me! Windermere seems to pick up the colours in our home and is still pretty light. We do like New Quay as well, but it seems to read more grey compared to Windermere. I think we are getting closer to a decision! I have ruled out Torquay... Looks too white and a little boring in our kitchen, even though I fell in love with it when I first laid eyes on it. Funny how things change.

Without a support, your overhang is going to be a cantilever. The rule of support is that for every foot of cantilever, there should be 2 additional feet behind the cantilever end that provide support. Therefore, to support an overhang that is 2 ft wide, you need to have 4 ft of island behind it, at the minimum. If you already have total 6' island dimension, no worries. But if you do not, either use brackets or decorative legs that will provide anchor to the floor. Legs come in all styles and shapes/sizes. Hope this helps!!

If you are willing to live with the bullnose then ask them what discount they will give you to keep it. Then if you feel it is a fair discount you can accept or negotiate from there. Believe me, if you give them a number first that they feel is too high that they will negotiate with you and if you give them a lower number than what they expected they will be very happy and you end up leaving money on the table. And if you don't like the bullnose, as others have said tell them it is unacceptable now that you've lived with it a bit and you want them to replace it with the edge you want. Good luck.