I personally think it would be too much. What about skipping the waterfall? Or do a dark perimeter, but I really hate working on dark countertops.

What will your floor be? If the floor is darker or warmer, the uniform material other places could be very nice. My own kitchen is small but I like having same back splash as counter.

I agree with Mark_rachel to skip the waterfall as a start. It's such a fad right now - what used to be restricted to very high-end is now everywhere, even large housing developments, a sign of its demise. Unlike other kitchen styles that last 10-15 years (espresso cabinets anyone?), the waterfall came on very fast and appears to be leaving as quickly. A couple of years from now you could be looking at your waterfall counter and thinking, "well that is frozen in time in 2018, what was I thinking?".

I agree on skipping the waterfall. It would probably be overkill, and most of them are so poorly installed they look horrible. It's not worth the extra cost.

Bad design. For multiple reasons.

It would be fine as counter and backsplash but I would skip the waterfall edge.

Thanks everyone! Good point friedajune about the waterfall being the "oh so 2018" look. The veined marble quartz will probably be dated as well. The waterfall meant an extra slab so I guess that's good to knock that off the estimate. Sophie would you care to elaborate on the multiple reasons why it's bad design? As far as the space for an island, I have a 42" square table there now that seems to function really well. I'm doing it mostly for extra storage. The floors would be medium brown to pick up the brown in the veining.

Here's some grey perimeter countertops. I think it looks great.

Luxury Residential Photography · More Info

Yes, looks good! There's too many choices out there!

The thing I don't like about waterfall is that it really limits seating around the island. A regular counter with overhang gives more space for seating and more workspace as well. I know your space is tight in the kitchen, but I'd vote for traditional counter with overhang on the island.

Is that Laza in the inspiration pictures posted? There is a lot of veining in your counter choice. Are you sure you want that much veining in the backsplash as well? I am starting to like the counter and backsplash being the same material, but I feel like it really needs a sophisticated looking kitchen to bring it all together. I worry since you are repainting your current cabinets and your kitchen is on the small side, you may not be able to get luxe look you are hoping for that you are seeing in the pics you posted. Note the size and scale of those kitchens, with really high end looking cabinetry and millwork.

I like the photo that Stacy posted above, with the dark perimeter counter. Just this weekend I saw Silestone Charcoal Soapstone and I like it very much. It might or might not work with your Laza. But I just had a look at the MSI colour choices - some to consider might be: Marquina Midnight, Shadow Grey, maybe even Fossil Grey. If the colours coordinate with your Laza choice. But I just reread your post and you say the floor will be brown to pick up the veining. Are you saying the veining is brown? If so, then those I listed above aren't going to work for you. I see grey in the pictures but that is the problem with computers and colours being subjective.

Good luck with it. Please post pictures as you go.

Use the marble on the island only (with the waterfall). Choose another, plain surface for the perimeter counters. IMO, quartz.

You need 42”-48” aisle clearance around an island. You don even come close.

Sorry but IMO you do not have space for an island with overhang. The min. walk space should be 42”leaves you 12 “ wide for an island not happening in any kitchen I would design you do not even have the absolute min of 36” walkway with what you have now.

The way I am interpreting a 12x12 L shaped kitchen is that one or the other or both of the other sides of the L are open?

If both are open, 42" clearance on the counter sides would include the yellow, almost 48" clearance would include the blue space allowable for the island.

If one end is closed you would need to cut off 36" from that side (the green lines)

If both ends are closed, you would have the pink leftover area for a weird shaped island which wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. But I am not visualizing this as a closed off 12 x 12 room (?)

Please post a floor plan.

I think waterfall counters peaked a couple years ago, so it's good to scratch that off your wish list.

Good visual, palimpsest.

Thank you, your comments are all so useful and I definitely need the advise. Please use your imagination with these images! In the second image, the side of island to the right (with no flooring sample), would have cabinets not the marble look, I just used that piece to fill in. The kitchen is like palimpses's schematic above and thank you for that except I should have said that the dimensions of the kitchen are 13.5x 12.5 leaving 128"x128" of floor. This is a condo so I'm limited on what I can do in here. Otherwise I would knock out the wall between the kitchen and dining room as it is a closed off space. The cabinet under the island would be 36x36 with a 12" overhang by the window and on the side where the wall has the cut out making it 48x48. I could place the island 42" from the sink, which would leave 38" on the other side by the cut out wall. And if I place it 42" from the fridge that would leave 24" by the window which would just have two stools tucked under it, no cabinets. I could add 9" to that length to make it 33"away from the window if I got a cabinet depth fridge. I literally lost sleep over this two nights ago! Now that I made my little cardboard cut-out the island doesn't feel so big, as I can walk around the whole thing. As you can see the floor is too dark (first mistake). I am on the second floor so am only allowed carpeting in the other rooms. I now realize that when you need to mix flooring surfaces they should flow and not look choppy like this does.

Unless you really need the storage, I am thinking a great table might work better there.

Can you show an image with the kitchen in view? How does this relate to your work zones? It looks like this is actually a breakfast nook for which a cool table might be more appropriate.

I think you’d be better off getting a moveable work station (cart) with either a butcher block or stainless top and shelving underneath — perhaps with drop-down sides — rather than a built-in island. And I wouldn’t put $20,000 in that kitchen without getting new cabinets; it just doesn’t make sense to put mid to upper mid-range finishes (like the countertops you’re considering) on top of lower-end, not-very-functional cabinets.

Take care of the basics first before you add the bells and whistles.

Painted old cabinets tend to just look like painted old cabinets. Most current kitchens opt for all-drawer base cabinets. If you don’t already know, they’re awesome. I don’t think it’s wise to put nice newcounters on these cabs.

I’d probably opt for Ikea cabinets in a U shape, extending the perimeter cabinets from the left corner across the window for some counter seating. This is the quickest example I could find to show what I mean...

I've seen tighter kitchens with islands, but while it adds storage and workspace, it really subtracts the floor space between it and the two walls from any other purpose.

The window in that corner really limits your options and a table view would not have been compromised by putting the sill at 36". (I realize you can't alter that).

How high is the pass through? The bottom of the passthrough is not really supporting anything above it except the ledge. I am wondering if you could make that an opening and do a narrow peninsula instead. The main path would still be the doorway but you could walk behind it for seating.

This is very messy, but something like this. and it could be shorter in length.

That's clever and I appreciate that you spent the time doing that! The passthrough is door height. Well I've decided that you're all right about the cabinets! Putting new quartz countertops on old cabinets was one of my big dilemmas and they will still look old and I will regret it. So now that opens up endless possibilities. My sister has the style of cabinets you spoke of benjesbride and she loves them. Choosing them will give me time to decide about the island issue. I'm still sold on the Laza on the backsplash!

If you sketch out the room with dimensions including windows and door locations, please take s photo and post s drawing here. We can help you work out your cabinet plan.

Unfortunately no because I'm in a condo. I had two kitchen designers in and they both thought I could swing the 48x48 island as one side butts up against a window and is not a thorough fare/walkway. One liked the idea of putting it on hidden wheels but that would eliminate the waterfall which I'm still contemplating and one loved the idea of the waterfall if I lightened the floor color. So I'll post before and after pictures when I'm done.