Thank you all. I'm feeling better about it being off center. Yes, I do plan to make the end piece look like a hutch. that's the next thing i'll think about. I'm trying to figure out how to deal with the crown of the old in white chocolate abutting the new in cognac. One option is to make the new upper 42" with 6" above the old and 6" below so the crowns and light rail don't intersect.

Thanks for continued input. I'm uploading a few pics - the glare was bad and my batteries quit before I got it adjusted, but these will do for now to give an idea of the buffet and what the wood is like. Forgive the poor quality. And Live Wire Oak, love yellow. I think the paint vs wood itself is what we're working out - I love painted most any color, husband loves wood. We've thought long and hard about painting existing cabinets but between a good deal of wear on builder grade cabinets, and needing to do some reformating for more counter space, we'll be replacing instead. I love some of those laminates you mention but had only seen darker ones I'd loved - I will look again for lighter ones. It's good to hear votes for laminates as we've been considering them vs stone. Love your color suggestions! Here's a close-up - wider view to follow as I can't seem to get them to both load in the same post.

I happen to have the granite / Corian combination in my kitchen, breakfast and family room open concept area. It works well for the reasons already listed above. The backsplash is the focal point so all counters selected were muted. All cabinets and the fireplace mantle are KM Biscotti with cocoa glaze (cream). The kitchen counters and fireplace surround are Dakota Mahogany (black, copper, gray speckles). By happy coincidence, the Corian in Ecru exactly matches the cabinets and reads as a solid although it has light veining. Corian counters were installed on the coffee bar in the breakfast room and on the display/desk cabinet area in the family room. I did use different companies for the two counter materials. My reasons for changing to Corian were that I wanted a lighter, more formal counter in the family room. Also, the counter for the coffee bar had to be easily removable as this area conceals a side by side dryer and a top loading washer. The Corian is four separate tablets that span wall to wall The point is that using both granite and Corian can be nicely mixed, but not easily, to allow the area to flow as one. I used both the consultant at HD and an ASID interior designer for my remodel. As an aside, if you're considering Corian for an island, please be aware that it scratches easily. The installers advised me that to avoid this from happening, hard items (i.e, glass, metals, etc.) should be lifted, rather than scooted, from one area of the counter to another. Yes, scratches can be buffed out, but you should be aware of the nature of this material. I'm very happy with my selections, but my Corian counters only see light use. I know there are others who use Corian on their kitchen perimeters and will disagree with me about using it in an area that sees hard use. You could get some of those little samples at HD to experiment how it would work for you in action.

Not that is matters sinc eyou seem to have decided already, but I would do the room and landing all but not the stairs in wood. Stairs in carpet works well. As far as your picture, I think the wood matching to the carpet is more important than the railing. I love the choice nearest the railing in the pic, but the other is fine as well.