Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement! Exactly what I was thinking, OOTM_Mom; it's a toaster oven cubby so I likely can treat it differently than my uppers elsewhere in the kitchen. It will only be 26.5" wide so it would never do as a baking center. If I were to get rid of the toaster oven and store the KA mixer there instead, it would only be stored there, never used there. I'll have a 59" island that I'll use for baking projects. Our coffee maker is on the counter over the DW, between sink and fridge. The only other appliance we keep out is the toaster, which will stay where it currently is, on the counter by the back door; bread is stored in a drawer below it. localeater, the toaster oven vents out the sides, not out the back or top. The instructions warn that the top can get warm - it can be used as a plate warmer - but even with the upper 15" above the toaster oven, I'll still have 4.5" of clearance above it, which is more than the required side clearances, so I think it will be fine. I've checked it when it's in use and I don't feel heat emanating more than an inch or two above the oven. The bottom of the current upper never feels warm, much less hot. If I can make the cubby a little less tall, I may increase the base cab height so that the toaster oven is closer to eye level, maybe at the same height as the Advantium (48" above floor). That would give me room for either an additional drawer or taller cab storage or both below the toaster oven cubby. Perhaps something like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mill-valley-open-kitchen-and-dining-room-contemporary-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~1860951) [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by San Francisco Design-Build Firms Nerland Building & Restoration, Inc. Notice that the venting for the toaster oven is above it. I thought maybe that was because that toaster oven vents above, not to the sides, but it sure looks like my Breville toaster oven. If so, that doesn't seem like a good idea at all. The toaster oven cubby in this kitchen is definitely less than 18" high. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-and-dining-traditional-kitchen-new-orleans-phvw-vp~2393877) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Pensacola Architects & Building Designers Dalrymple : Sallis Architecture 'Course, I've seen enough poorly designed kitchens on houzz so I shouldn't assume that if it's done in this kitchen or others, it's okay. I will definitely double check with my KD, contractor and cab maker before moving ahead with this idea.

Pllog, Well, we are in both in CA, as some would say! ;) I do agree with your comment about granite being the standard because of its perception as being a luxury item. FrmrsDghtr, WOW!!! Love what you were able to do!!! RosySunnyGal, Our counters are Floating Blue which is a mostly turquoise in white cement matrix color. We were able to pick our slabs at the factory when it was still here in the Bay Area years ago. We have several KDs in our area that had samples of Vetrazzo, Icestone and Fuez to look over. IF you are looking for the wow factor, these will do it. With that in mind, I do recommend that you really like your countertop color because it is a very prominent part of your kitchen. They also aren't cheap and I highly recommend that your installer be someone who knows how to work with this material. Our installation fabricators claimed they did and we had multiple problems with them that we finally had to hire a second company to fix. We looked at all of the green countertop materials, and this was the one that my DH and I were able to agree on despite the price. BTW, I don't include quartz or C-stone in this category. I do recommend that you do an online search for recycled glass companies because there are several others besides the three I mention above. The ones that I have ran across are: Gilasi in the Chicago area, Urbanslabs in SoCal, Vetrazzo is now in the Atlanta area, and more that I have seen around the US. I do recommend if you can using one that is near you because of the weight and shipping cost of the slabs. If you are interested in knowing more or seeing some pictures of my counters, please, PM me.

Every choice has pluses and minuses, in the end you have to choose which plus and which minus matters the most to you and/or which have an easy fix (like using a cutting board under the crockpot; at work we have an extra piece under the big coffeemaker). budget mattered a lot to me (and I hated formica) so, I ended up with a lesser expensive granite and am very happy, no sealing or extra work for the stone I chose. I had formica previously which looked like h#*! from the day I moved in and didn't get better (except that I could use bleach to remove stains) so those of you whose formica looks like new after 30 years must be taking appropriate care -- using cutting boards (mine had little cuts all over) and so forth -- where my previous owners did not. But, I read that formica now is much better quality than what was installed 30 or 40 years ago. I looked at Burled Beach and liked it. It looked a warm sand-ish color on my samples in my house, but I saw a demo kitchen of it at a big box store and it was a warm greenish tone (I still liked it) under their fluorescent lights. You always have to ability to STOP and make changes unless the cabinets are all already made. If he is just now starting it might not be too late -- call him now! PS do you have an IKEA near to you? Most counter materials are less expensive there.

I hadn't thought about using the filler to hide uneven walls. That's for that heads up Sophie! I actually have about 3.5 inches extra on that run and am trying to figure out where to put the filler, so adding some between the fridge and the wall won't be an issue. I guess I won't be able to put a refrigerator cover panel against that wall though, for the same reason you mentioned.