I just installed an Ikea kitchen a little over a week ago (still finishing filler & trim), so I'll throw in my 2 cents. But I would second kailuamom's suggestion to check out the Ikea Fans website. It seems to get a little less traffic than here, but there are lots of professional installers and experienced folks there with Ikea-specific wisdom on those boards. As far as your questions� 1) My ceilings are nominally 8 ft, but in reality they are anywhere from 94-95 inches. We wanted to be able to put up crown molding on top with facia or face molding below, to help disguise the non-levelness of the ceiling, so that requires something in the realm of 4-6 inches. Including that plus the below-cabinet molding, there was no way the 39" upper would work. By my calculations, we could only have done the 39" with molding on top if we used very short molding. We went with a 30" instead. I felt that more molding and a bit of extra under-cabinet space would look and feel better than the larger cabinet squished in there. 3) (no #2? lol) I am positive I've seen this modification discussed on Ikea Fans. 4) My understanding is that miter joints (the diagonal seam you describe) are not a good choice for butcher block. I know people sometimes do it, but as it was explained to me, the miter approach can cause trouble down the line because of the way the wood will expand and contract with temperature and humidity. Butt joints are apparently the way to go. I have a peninsula in my kitchen, too, and at one point considered doing as you describe with the 26" wide piece along the wall and the wider counter for the rest of the peninsula. However, I decided that it was important to me to have peninsula be one seamless block, and tweaked our layout so that it worked to use the 73X39 counter. 5) I believe that as a general rule, your hood needs to be the same width or larger than your cooktop/range to be effective. So functionally, going with a 36" would not be good. In terms of appearance, personally, I am certain that I would not like it. A too-small hood just looks wrong to me. And the taller cabinets you have next to the 36" hood cabinet in your planner photos would probably be a fire hazard since you'd have some stove right below them. 6) Ikea doesn't sell specific filler pieces. You get some cover panels or toe-kick (they call it plinth) and cut that to whatever size you need. Where you need filler is wherever you have a gap between cabinets or between cabinet and wall that you want to fill in. From your pictures, it looks to me like you might need filler between the drawers to the right of the sink and the wall, and to the right of the upper above that. I don't know that you need anything between sink and dishwasher. The domsjo sink rests on the countertop, which would rest on the side edge of the sink cabinet. This is another question to search over at Ikea Fans, because there have definitely been lots of threads about this there.

I have quite a bit of Ikea furniture/items. Some has held up, some hasn't. I usually first go to the "as is" area by the registers. This is out of the way for a lot of people, but if I'm really looking for something I don't want to waste time going throughout the store if it's there cheaper. I was able to save over 50% on my Hemnes dresser in as is just because it had a scratch on the top. It was already completely put together. I've had this dresser for over 3 years now and it is my favorite piece of furniture. The top is somewhat soft, so I would suggest if this bothers you that the top doesn't look as great after a few years. I also bought a Tarva nightstand for $40. They're a lot cheaper and unfinished pine. I put this together and then painted it the color I wanted. I then spray it with shellac and it has held up really well. My eivor cirkel rug is beautiful, soft, and has held up for the past year. It's easy to clean and doesn't lose fibers ever. I have 2 Asele table lamps. These come with an adjustable dial to turn them on. They're great when you want it lighted but dim in the room. My cats have knocked them over a few times and the shades have held up to this. I have 5 NOT floor lamps, both with and without the side light for reading. These get wobbly over time and need to be retightened. I love them and they're cheap. I have several LACK side tables that I've painted and recovered. They hold up well, but tend to chip if you run into them, hence the paint. I also have a LACK coffee table that my bearded dragon's tank is on. It holds the weight and is very sturdy, but it does scratch easily. I also have a VEJMON side table. That one didn't hold up to my puppy's wood chewing stage.. woops. The BISSA shoe cabinet is great, but it has no cut out for the baseboards which makes mounting it a pain. I plan to replace this soon. My various IKEA cookware and utensils have held up well but dishwashing tends to kill them after a few times. I have IKEA artwork too that is pretty decent quality. My ottoman is so heavy duty that it chipped my wood floors when it fell. The one thing I would not buy from there again is pillows. I have bought maybe a handful of pillows for my living room. After only a few months they started stabbing me with feathers. Oh, and of course my bathmats, shower curtains, wastebaskets, etc. are all great.

Not knowing the sq. footage of your space, it's hard to push you in that direction... my tile is just those three walls (can't see the the third) - as the sink is set into that space and stands alone. I think all said and done it was $400 for tile and labor - but the guy just came in to do this job. You'll be bidding out for more tile than just this.... so labor wise, it probably won't add much to your overall labor cost. I purchased at a local tile store - but was just in Lowes last night and they have some really pretty glass accents (like the one I used) -- if that's your thing. It just added a little extra interest. The wall where my towel holder is (to the left of the sink) was just full of water drip stains. You can't get them out. It was either re-paint every couple years or tile. As for your sink choice - I truly believe it comes down to the look you want to achieve. The all white cabinet, with white subway tiles and accent tiles would look pretty awesome. I can't imagine that the fiberboard is any less durable than the pine....

Eyeballing the space, it doesn't even appear to be big enough for what you want to do but that may only because you have the corner cut off. Blue tape it out on the floor including the chairs when they are pulled out and see if this could be a reality. Would the pinball machine fit in the window area, then the foosball where the pinball was and then a table and chairs where the foosball was and a TV on that wall above the table. Otherwise just get a couple of bar stools and a couple of small tables and call it good as do you really need a big table?