Thanks all; sounds like I'm not the only one that has trouble deciding from time to time. I agree with the difference between liking pictures in a book or online versus living in it. I remember about 4 years ago, maybe 5, I loved the shabby chic pink look. I just knew I wanted it. I did two rooms in all white - one has lots of light blue accents, the other pinks and lavenders. They looked really good - straight out a magazine. I hated both of them. Even though I liked the look, I couldn't stand being in the rooms. One was redone in rich reds and gold and black, the other in, uh, gold, and rich reds. Hmmmm .... I'm sensing a pattern here. Thankfully (at least I *think* it's a good thing) I uncovered a new element - something that's going to restrict my choices a bit and therefore hopefully make the decision less stressful. When I was ripping up the various kitchen flooring layers .... carpet on top of pad on top of old vinyl on top of underlayment ... I accidentally ripped up a piece of the underlayment. I didn't mean too, was planning on putting the new floor (hadn't decided yet, was waiting on updated budget figures) and guess what I found? Yup, the kitchen had hardwood under there too! Hallelujah! It, however, is different than in the rest of the house. It's a wider plank, wider spacing, a MUCH more casual look and a more porus wood - meaning if I use the same stain it will not look the same and will likely look funny where they join. That led me to choose a contrasting stain choice so that it looked purposeful. I was torn between ebony (with cream cabinets), weathered / distressed barnwood (with either cream, black or barn red cabinets) and whitewash (with black cabinetry). Today when I started sanding, it became clear that I was likely not going to get it sanded white enough (without sanding down so deep I hurt it) to do a whitewash. The floor has gaps and grooves and the stain color fills those low spots. Trying to sand down that deep will leave me with a paper thin floor. That takes that color out of the options.

Remove the wall completely, and have the counter extend past the sink at counter height creating a seating are which can double as a buffet for parties. It will make the area more spacious feeling. To get a more comfortable overhang of about 15" you can install a narrow depth bookshelf on the outside end and a cleat of 2x4 bolted to the studs on the wall side. This will take away the need for expensive supports under the countertop material, and will give it a nice built-in look. make sure to put an electrical outlet under the overhang - I find this very handy. To cover the backs of the cabinets, you can order a finishing panel, or, just use drywall painted in the same color as the walls. If there is a concern about flooring material under where the wall used to be, you can just move your peninsula back by 4-6" to cover the spot, giving you a few more inches of kitchen.

The way you describe your kitchen, it sounds just like mine. I just agonized over the backsplash, and finally decided on Oceanside Glasstile, Geologie series, in Sandstone color, 1x2 offset brick pattern. It is a glass and slate combination. The runner up was a falling water honed slate by Stone & Pewter accents in the "Prairie" color. Tan Brown granite is going to look great. We went with Tropical Brown, but Tan Brown was a top choice too.

Are you keeping the sink where it is now? Right now, the wall is high enough to block the view of the sink from the eating area. If you lower or remove the wall, you will be able to see all the dirty dishes in the sink and everything on the counter. This would bother some people, and not bother others. To get your homework/snack area, if the kitchen table doesn't work well for those activities, I'd consider removing the wall, but not making the counter all one height. I'd have the counterspace, then a backsplash-y sort of thing, and then the counter for homework and snacks, raised about 6 inches from the rest of the counter, to block sight lines from the eating area. You could even put some electrical outlets in the vertical area, giving you more functionality for that stretch of counter. The big challenge in doing this would be the flooring--finding new flooring to match. The backs of the cabinets should be easy for a contractor to fabricate, as should the supports for the counter overhang. I don't necessarily think doing this would make the kitchen seem larger. But it would give you what you want--a space for the kids to sit and snack, do homework and chat with you while you are working in the kitchen. But I'm also going to suggest, if you haven't already done this, posting this question on the Kitchens forum. You'd need a few more pictures and a floor plan to do that--they always ask for them. And the posters over there do not pull any punches. But many of them are quite talented at seeing solutions to problems that no one else can see, or ways of redoing a kitchen that hadn't been thought of before. So I think it's worth getting their opinion, too. Here is a link that might be useful: [split level counters[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/split-level-counter-phbr0lbl-bl~l_144949)