try hard, i think you should not forgo your breakfast bar or your ability to use it comfortably. if i understand the way you describe it, the 12 inch overhang will only protrude into the doorway, not the actual room, and then only by 3 inches. it really sounds fine to me. unused, sitting there with stools tucked, i think it will be seen as the kitchen. whether you use the 9 or the 12, your actual bodies or backs of stools will probably graze the family room but so what? counters and bars are often transitional spaces to the next room anyway, and i think that either way it will be fine and you will enjoy it so go for the 12! by the way, former owners of my house made the counter bar extend 11 inches which we find comfortable for knees. however, they removed the wall between kitchen and dining room and the entire counter protrudes the 11 inches into our small dining room which completely throws off the center of the room and makes the stools way too close to the dining table. i can't gut the whole space, so i live with it and really love using the counter bar. your situation is far far better and i bet it will look fantastic. good luck and let us know what you decided.

If I understand you correctly, you will have 12" on each side of the wall, correct? Is there a reason you are not putting in a run of 24" deep (standard depth) cabinets on the kitchen side? 28" is, I think, sufficient for eating but if you put in 24" cabinets on the kitchen side you give yourself not only plenty of eating space, but also deeper work space when needed and a large "staging" area for food & drinks for the DR (24" + 4" + 12" = 40" deep). What height will this counter be? Will it be counter height (36") or bar height (42")? If counter height, the minimum recommended seating overhang is 15", for bar height it's 12". As to when you need supports for laminate/Formica countertops, I don't know, hopefully, someone w/this knowledge will chime in!

we are just finishing a 2-level peninsula similar to your plan. will post pictures soon. we were well aware that this is "off trend" but figured that by the time the kitchen is finished, it will be almost back "on trend" again! you just have to go with what you need to function best. hiding all the s*#% (stuff) from the dining area was big for us. we also really enjoy sitting at a counter. my husband makes pasta a lot and likes the idea of having 2 levels-- one to work on, and one to dry the pasta on. we put outlets all along the 6in. support, as you had mentioned above. we also put one outlet facing toward the bar side (also in the support) which i think will be handy. i also had an idea (after the fact) to build in a little soap/sponge holder into the 6inch support right by the sink. it would have been nice. ah, well. next kitchen. as mentioned and shown above, we also used hidden brackets for support. they are routed into the side so the face piece went over them and then the under-counter part of the bracket does not show at all. we didn't have room for the corner bar section that you show in the last picture. i like the look-- it does seem to update the bar look-- but don't know how it would work for your situation. have fun! kawh

So I found these stools at Copenhagen and I really like them!! (and the price.) They are very comfy and lightweight. Issue- I'm doing brass accents. I do have SS appliances but faucet, pulls, lighting are all brass. I do like the idea of mixing metals. WDYT? (the legs are chrome.) Perimeter cabinets are white but island (where the stools will be) is gray. I'd love your thoughts. I'm a very insecure decorator!!