Have you considered a fireclay apron front sink? I didn't consider cast iron but had stainless undermount in a few kitchens prior to this one, i'll never go back! The farmhouse sink is the best decision we made with this kitchen. As for the rest I love the colors all except the formica, I'd for sure let the blue cabinets be the star and go with a less busy countertop.

Fireclay sinks crack. Feel free to use the search bar above. Type in “Fireclay sink fail” and check out the posts. Then repeat the process for enameled cast iron. Quality, brushed stainless steel should not retain any marks, and should not show scratches. It is a lifetime sink.

I think your color choices look great together. I like the River Gold Formica, but white is also a clean classic look. Think about whether you want the counter to catch the eye, or say, the backsplash 😉.

@eam44 I did what you said and didn't see any where the sinks cracked, only saw only one post from a few years ago where something was dropped and a big piece came off the apron part. I did a ton of research before deciding on it, it's totally up to each person to do their own research not just on this site. I love mine and wanted to recommend it as a less expensive but super durable option.

Its, try “fireclay sink crack” there are more than 9,000 threads. Like this one. You should absolutely recommend whatever you want, and I should recommend that the OP take a look at all the posts that say fireclay is awful, and enameled cast iron chips. In the end the decision belongs to Missi. Yay us!

I'd looked into fireclay before and ruled it out b/c I had seen a lot of issues w/it. Now granted--this has been an ongoing few years process, and things could be different now, some of those threads I read could've been 10 years old and I just don't remember. (like the old v new silgranite threads)

I won't have a backsplash, other than probably the piece in the back of the laminate. The only counters in the kitchen are two 18" on either side of the stove and the sink run, which is...8' I believe.

I'd also considered composite but didn't know if everyone would remember to have water running in the sink when dumping boiling water etc. And I think you need a special garbage disposal.

I don't generally like swirly counters, so I'd planned on a solid white initially. But I saw this and really liked it. We have a large pantry off the kitchen and did the laminate out there. (here's the TL;DR part I was referring to) When we got the counter put in, I hated it w/the wall color (Agreeable Gray), so we ended up repainting, which is where the Repose Gray comes in. (also the lighting in the pantry is different and needs to be changed to be more in line w/the kitchen lighting) I didn't want to have different counters out there than in the kitchen bc I feel like there will already be a lot going on between the two areas and didn't want to compound that. So if I do different counters in the kitchen, at some point I think I'll have to change the pantry as well.

wait, what formica did you choose for your pantry? white or swirly?

you don't necessarily have to match what's in your pantry, since it's a different "room". you could do off-white counters in the kitchen, which would compliment the swirly counter in the pantry while seeming planned.

the pantry counters have the River Gold. There's an open door way from the kitchen into the pantry and a large "pass thru" window into the pantry from the dining area...so I figured the stuff should be the same..maybe it's ok if it's not. I just don't want the whole place to be like oh my eyes my eyes I don't know where to look there's so much going on. Bit anxious if you can't tell hahaha.

I see mixed countertop surfaces all the time -- like when an island has a different top. what if you chose a different finish so it's not necessarily "competing" with what's in the pantry? like butcher block counters? can you post a pic that shows more of the kitchen and into the pantry at the same time?

but actually, it kind of sounds like you don't totally love what you put in the pantry. would it be too expensive to just have those changed and get what you want everywhere?

The counters themselves I do love. Thought I was going insane when we put them in and I hated how they looked w/the wall color-nobody else saw what I did. I'm less irritable about them now w/the different paint color on the walls, but w/the lighting in the pantry, it still seems "off", just less so now. The cabinets in there are navy--once I painted them and got them in there it seemed so heavy in such a small space, I didn't want to do it in the kitchen too. I figure at some point we'll repaint those cabinets as well, to the lighter blue color, and change the color of the lighting to match the kitchen more.

I'd originally wanted white or butcher block, but my husband said it would cost too much to do butcher block (he wanted to epoxy them), and pretty much everyone I talked to here (not here-here, where I live here) recoiled at the idea of white counters--you'll see everything, you'll never be able to keep them clean, you'll hate them, they'll drive you nuts, they'll show every stain etc. One day I happened to click into a thread and saw counters that I instantly found to be gorgeous--and they're swirly counters, the kind I "don't like". So I was a bit taken aback and thought wow, maybe I'm selling this look short and that's why it's so hard to decide what I want, open up my mind blah blah blah. I found the River Gold and those were the *only* laminate ones I saw that were "swirly" that I liked a lot. Ordered them and as soon as they hauled the counter into the pantry, I could right away see they didn't "go". Been a ball of nerves ever since--that was the end of February I believe.

Husband decided to get a small piece of butcher block and epoxy it. It's maple, and w/the epoxy on it, it's quite yellow. I think too yellow for the kitchen.

Let me grab some pictures from my phone.

Pantry after counters were put in. How the areas relate to each other, in all the craziness of no where to put things during the process.

Looking out the pantry pass thru window into the dining area, and looking from the far end of the pantry into the kitchen.

Ok, so we "cheated". Our area has no code for sink drains, so we used the Kohler utility sink. Passed inspection just fine and we have had 0 problems in 5 years, well except when MIL put chunky soup down it - which would have clogged any drain...

Anyway here it is

what are the differences between the utility sink and regular sink? Was it a pain to do the faucet?

so, if I'm reading this correctly: you like the swirly but are unsure about putting it in your whole kitchen because you're worried it's busy? or am I wrong about that? get the swirly if you do genuinely love it! the color combos you posted above do look nice to me.

but if you don't love it: do yourself a favor and get the counters you want. it looks like you're doing a major reno. how much extra could it cost to bite the bullet and just replace that one small counter in the pantry? it's not even a fancy cut, just a rectangle.

I'm curious why you're choosing Formica? from what I understand, that brand can be pretty expensive compared to some other manmade countertop materials out there. I'm not pushing back on your style choice, just curious. or is it a different brand of laminate that is more budget friendly?

I worry that b/c of everything else going on between the two rooms it will be busy. They're not overly big expanses, really, especially being split as they are between the two spaces...and I really do like it. Part of it, I think, is b/c I've always disliked swirly counters, so I'm confused why I like this, so then I second guess myself.

At some point the cabinets will all be the same color..but we'll have the brown of the floor, the brown of the trim around the inside of the doorways/windows, white trim around doorways/windows/floor, light blue cabinets, plus my husband wants to build a very large table for the dining area, and he wants to build it, I believe, out of like butcher block and cedar. I can't remember exactly, but it seems like..over the top. I think I need to find out exactly what he plans to do w/the table. I worry the whole thing altogether will be a LOT and I'll need to tone things down w/a lot of white to balance it out. Not sure if that makes sense.

What I dislike about the laminate is the exact opposite thing everyone warned me about w/the white--I detest putting something on the counter and hearing the crunch of crumbs. Or putting my hand on it and feeling crumbs. Seeing spills. The things that "blend in" so I set things down and didn't see the water or whatever and now my papers are wet. I'd thought maybe if it were white there would be no excuses. (tho in reality it's probably wishful thinking)

The laminate we got from a countertop place that I believe only does laminate, We installed it, and it was pretty inexpensive. I'm not sure what it costs elsewhere, but 11' was less than $300, so I don't think that was too bad. If I did something different, I wouldn't feel horrible about replacing it, but I wouldn't do it right away.

your concerns about white being too stark are also valid. I had a white Formica counter in my last apartment. the kitchen would be spotless except for just a few coffee grinds, and I could see it from across the room. I'm never going to choose a solid color ever again, no matter what the material is!

but on the other hand, it was quality laminate. it was old (from 1985), and didn't have any chips or old stains on it. I was always doing messy craft projects there -- leather dye was particularly bad. when gentler things didn't work, I would put uniluted clorox and let it sit. all stains could be 100% removed and the surface never looked damaged. but... not all laminate is the same so I'd proceed with caution.

therefore -- for you -- it might be the most practical if you got the swirly stuff. if it gets a little damaged, the pattern may hide it. or if you choose white after all, get a sample and abuse it as much as you can to test it out.

The difference between the 2, price! The drain hole is actually a slightly smaller diameter. I love the faucet it is a DREAM! No grunge around where it attaches to sink ;^) DH had to put in a little stub wall to push it forward, but not hard, just measure a lot.

I looked at the Kohler utility sinks- zoinks on the prices! I don't know that I could get behind a sink in the 2-3k range. They do look really nice tho. I love sinks that have the back panel to them-but man are they hard to find.

I'll probably just have husband order the laminate we used in the pantry, and down the road if something happens to it, or I decide I should've done something else, we'll just change it.

Then I can concentrate on finding the right sink. Can you use a disposal w/a cast iron sink, or do you need a special one like you do w/composite?

HOLY COW! That sink has tripled and some in price in 5 years! Whoa, that is crazy.....plus, now there's no difference in price between kitchen and utility And no difference in cost for size....? Sorry about that, I had no idea.

Missi, I like the pantry countertop. Recommend you go with that and move on....get-er done! It is looking great. I personally love a stainless sink.

have you looked at home salvage stores for sinks? it's a shot in the dark, but you might luck out with the perfect thing for a fraction of the price. (or you might find some other cool things. I love those stores.)

I've not..we live in such nowheresville, there closest is probably 2, 2.5 hours away, and they don't post everything online. Been checking CL just in case. Probably will need to make a comparison list of size/price/brand/material etc to see which way to go.