Hi, I had this same dilemma when I installed my breakfast bar with a granite countertop. I didn't want to use corbels or other supports because I didn't want folks banging their knees and I don't like the look. I like that 'free float' look also. So, I actually purchase a custom cut metal plate, screwed it to top of the breakfast bar supporting wall, and then just layed the granite right on top. Make sure that your wall I had to go to a specialty machinist shop to get the metal plate (roughly 10 gauge), and they laser drilled holes and countersunk the holes so that I could screw flush into the metal. This is not sheet metal. It's a very thick, very heavy metal plate. I had screw holes countersunk and offset every 8 inches along the sheet metal. Also make sure that your top 2x4 is securely mounted. If you can add a 2x4 between each stud (directly under the top board, side nailed into the studs). Then, you can screw through the metal sheet securely onto not just the top 2x4, but also the 2x4 directly underneath it, giving you a very sturdy base to lay the granite on. You don't want the weight of the granite to rip the top 2x4 off. You can see the whole project at http://www.thegoodrumfamily.com/ayrlee.kitchen if you look at the pictures under the Saturday section and you can see the metal sheet, and see a small section how the top 2x4 is reenforced with another 2x4 underneath. Here is a link that might be useful: Ayrlee Kitchen Project

Just a suggestion, but consider taking Caps Lock off. It makes reading your post difficult.... However, I think you're suggesting putting in a lower than counter height extension where you might put stools or chairs. What height and depth is your current eating bar? The NKBA guidelines suggest at least 15" depth for 36" (counter height) and 18" depth for 30" (table height). Does table height work best for your husband (like a kitchen table height)? Or does he prefer counter height (same height as your standard kitchen countertops)? If you choose a height somewhere in between there (as you've suggested), you may have difficulty finding stools that will work. Here is a picture of a lower (table height I believe) wood countertop below an existing countertop. I recently saw these stools at Crate & Barrel that are listed as being adjustable height (but no back). Something like this would allow you to have an unusual height counter and still fit stools underneath. These ones from Restoration hardware are pricey, but they also adjust and have a back.

We also eat in our family room chairs, but I guess that is not so good a thing to teach the kiddos, huh? There are probably the lift-up coffee tables available at times at thrift or second-hand stores. I almost got one a few years back. Here is a source for the mechanism if you want to make one yourself. It would give two people sitting on your couch an eating surface, which would be good in your sized home for the odd get-together if not for every day. http://woodworker.com/coffee-table-top-lift-mechanism-l-r-mssu-164-228.asp?gclid=CjwKEAjw6_q5BRCOp-Hj-IfHwncSJABMtDaiwuFq_E-O8Tt2tvGtgIm0ue8hjOppr8QYC2w6gA73wBoCptPw_wcB Or here are a bunch on eBay. The other thing to keep in mind is that this item would also give the kids a place to do homework or anybody a place to pay bills, right in the center of action, not tucked away in a corner of a bedroom or basement. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281621336698?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true Another thing you could be on the watch for is the console dining set. I saw one from the 1930s that had beautiful wood work. Many look like hall tables or buffets, but the insides are hiding the dining table leafs. Sometimes folding chairs fit into the space that looks like it is a buffet storage area. Sometimes that area is full of 6 or 8 feet of real wood dining table. In that case, you end up scattering dining chairs around the house. One in each bedroom, one next to the front door, one in the kitchen.... wherever you can fit one! No, it is not convenient for daily dining. "Okay kids, go wash your hands for dinner and get your chairs!" Another option is to make your couch area in the living room into very comfortable buffet seating, so that it does double duty as couch and dining room seating. Where is the table? I don't know the layout, so I can't tell you where to hide it! One option is a ottoman that "grows" to table height and then the top turns over and is a hard laminated surface instead of a plush top. It is a bit tricky, as you have to have the ottoman make room for feet and legs, but I bet there is one out there or that one could be designed. The table top almost has to be 12 inches bigger than the ottoman top on at least two sides to make that extra leg room, though. I guess you hide the chairs for the other side of the table in the bedrooms in this case, too. I have tried using a portable island for dining, and if there is not adequate leg room, it is no good. I believe 12 inches is minimum and 15 comfortable. We have 14" overhang for our island seating in the kitchen and our knees do not bang on the back at all. I have used a tea cart pulled up to my family room chair and it is okay for two, inadequate for three, and I cannot see it for four. Only two people will have the fold-up top part to sit at, the others will have no place to put their legs. I have also used a fold-up table that I got from the drugstore. It is about 48" x 18" and it seats 3 for dinner if you fill your plates in the kitchen and carry them to the table.

Venting to the outside is not generally a code requirement as far as I can tell *I am not an expert*. Where I live, even a recirculating hood isn't required, so long as you have a window that opens in the kitchen. Induction/electric ranges I haven't seen any requirements to vent to outside, but for gas, there seems to be a bit of a question... e.g. if you have a "commercial" style range vs. a "standard" gas range. So, the code requirements *might* be different for different heat sources where phamm lives. Grease/fumes notwithstanding, I was wondering just about the code requirements for outside vent, as well the safety issue with gas. If there were more stringent requirements for gas, and venting to the outdoors isn't feasible, a move to electric/induction might be worthwhile. I realize however that outside venting *may* provide better removal of odors/grease... although I think a lot of that depends on the distance to the outdoors as well as the capacity of the exhaust fan. For what it's worth, the best outdoor venting I had was the downdraft. I think it captures the grease/fumes/steam before it has any opportunity to disperse. And it was a lot quieter that the over-the-cooktop hood I had installed for a through-the-roof scenario. I have no problems using a recirculating hood now, as they have improved a lot, I prefer to do my cooking in the oven, and I don't use very much oil in cooking... but of course that is not the situation for everyone! When my current smoothtop electric cooktop dies, I am going to go with induction :) If you haven't watched the youtube videos of people putting newspapers/paper towels on the induction cooktop, deep frying food, then throwing the newspaper/paper towels away revealing a perfectly clean surface, you might want to!