You can see what I used with my calacatta gold honed tile and dark wood, furniture-style vanity: leathered antique brown, which is really more of a grayish brown color. I didn't want to use marble on the counter for maintenance reasons and because I couldn't find one that matched or coordinated well with the floor (even other calacatta's didn't look right). I also considered a gray limestone from Greece, but, again, the maintenance problems.

We had the same question in two areas of our kitchen reno. Bar or counterheight for both the peninsula AND when I decided to enlarge the pass through window. We chose counter height for both, and and so happy that we did. Here's the peninsula: and like Nathan mentioned -- we actually have alot of newpaper reading and homework being accomplished and internet surfing going on the non-kitchen side of the peninsula -- Oh! and card playing: with this set-up we can get 3 people playing cards here, too! My daughter likes to make cool decorated cupcakes for her friends, and this large area allows her to spread out and make an even bigger mess . . . Oh, I mean be creative. This was formerly a wall that we took down between the kitchen and DR. When I have a buffet, I take the stools and move them to the pass-through overhang -- shown here. This was the passthru window that had a "bump-up" -- we flattened and enlarged it. I like the counter height all through out the kitchen. And I apologize to people who may be sick and tired of seeing pictures of my kitchen. But so many helped me, I just want to help people who had THE SAME questions I had when I was planning!

Thanks for clarifying MamaGoose. I will have to check and see what might work. From what I have seen you pay most of the price of the cabinet to buy just the doors so it may be just as easy to just buy the tall pantry and use that as to build something else and buy the pantry doors. You wouldn't get the broom storage but would have more overall storage. I will give it some thought and tsk to the GC and see what we come up with. Overall though, do you think any of the options would look better/worse/ strange? We go back in to remeasure on Wed. Close a week from Thursday and get possession in 5 weeks. Getting close! Now I just have to finalize everything so I can order the cabinets.

I have never had a kitchen where it would have made sense to have a separate prep and clean-up sink. So, yes, the island sink feels a little odd to me. If it was my kitchen, it probably would take me a long time to figure out why it's there. I'd rather just have a single work-station style sink for both prep and clean-up. But I can admit, that that's just a function of how I like to work. What @cheri127 describes about how she uses the kitchen sounds plausible, when entertaining large groups. I can see the utility of the island. And except for the sink it doesn't bother me. On the other hand, I do agree with @Milly Rey. The left side of the kitchen still feels really awkward to me. The cabinets and appliances feel not quite right, yet. For instance, I feel the ovens would be better on the right-hand side. And the open space in the center feels as if it should be filled in a little more. But it is hard to say from the pictures that we have. And yes, I would not interrupt the left counter top with yet another sink. If a sink is needed in that vicinity, move the island sink that we can't talk you out of. It can be accessed from the drink area, if it was on the left side of the island. Alternatively, get rid of the sink in the drink area and turn it into a bar tap. Now that makes more sense!