That's two votes for the brown laminate. :) And that helps me confirm that Basalt Slate is a no. About the dark island base, I've looked at hundreds of pictures online, on Houzz, and in magazines. I like the all white kitchens and think they are pretty, but when I walk through showrooms that have all white kitchens I realize that I, personally, need the dark cabinets to help the room feel grounded. I also need to have the kitchen relate to the great room. The best way I can think to do that is by staining the fireplace mantel and the island cabinets the same color. The island countertop is more expensive than the Ubatuba so I can't afford to use it throughout the kitchen. I've thought about putting the UT on the island but DH does not like that look. So, I'm right back where I started....light on dark and dark on light. I am struggling with the final decision of using laminate instead of granite. I think the color will work okay, I'm just not sure about the finish and the overall look. I can't find any images online of finished countertops in this specific laminate color. If I don't do a backsplash that will save me some money (not the difference between laminate and granite, but every bit helps).

Just my 2 cents but this looks to me like an error on their part, I am no kitchen designer but I have never seen any "splash" come down the side of a front facing countertop like that. We had "side splash" on the laminate countertops we just ripped out and all of it was above the line of the countertop. This not only looks bad b/c of the lack of curve, which I do agree needs to match the back splash curve. But it really draws your eye because that piece on the end goes down below where the countertop should be, especially with the curve on the front of the countertop edge. I don't want to be negative, and I really like the countertop color you picked, I think they just made a mistake and are asking you to live with it. A countertop that is custom ordered should go wall to wall. We had granite put in and one of our walls wasn't straight (Hubby did the Drywall DIY) the stone fabricator was able to cut the stone to match the exact angle of the un-straight wall. I would think that is what they should have done with your laminate counter, measured correctly and taken into account the slant of the wall. I hope you can get it resolved, good luck! Sorry this is spoiling some of the new kitchen fun!

Thanks Lily Spider :) My inspiration photos all have marble counters lol!!! butI think I'm back on track again - I love classic and I wanted real stone so I think thats why I went the black granite route (though I guess this seems strange after considering marble!)… I've always liked honed black granite and I need to be somewhat practical re the kids - one of the reasons for the kitchen reno (besides the fact that we moved here a year ago and the current kitchen is awful) is to provide space for the kids to be able to 'eat in kitchen' at the peninsula during the younger years while they are still messy (i.e. dropping food everywhere) and to provide a place for them to color/hang out etc while I'm cooking…I don't want to be on top of them the whole time which is why I ruled out the stones that etched/stained/scratched - I think the black granite is a good compromise for me and usability for them and will work in well with the other components of the kitchen…thanks for getting me back on track Lily Spider (my husband almost had a heart attack when I said I was second guessing lol)

I still don’t understand why they can’t make it work even if the “height” behind the sink is different from the height everywhere else. Why can’t they use a plywood with smaller height behind the sink compared to everywhere else? Arvind, IF the window framing is lower than the top of the cabinets (with the current counters removed), then it won't be a problem and your idea of using plywood, etc., to bring that level up to the level of the cabinets will work. IF you want one piece of granite, granite that extends into the jut-out at the window, you will have to go the custom cut granite route. OR, you can use prefab granite, a step-up of the same granite in the window jut-out (like you posted above), space permitting. IF space does not permit, you can still use prefab material & look at filling in the jut-out with thinner material like granite tile, porcelain tile, a piece of acrylic like Corian or Siltech, even painted wood--prime & paint all six sides & caulk to seal. Home Depot- Siltech What is confusing the issue is that you have a tile counter w/ a tile-in sink so the overall thickness of the counter, the counter over the cabinets, is unknown and more difficult to determine. We don't know how much the counter has been built up in the window recess. (Selective demo in the window recess would probably answer all these questions.) I, too, am sorry about the negative comments & dire prognostications. So far, as far as I know, you've not encountered any out of the ordinary complications. Worst case scenario that I can see is that you might end up with a step down in the window recess (in which case you can use the prefabs. Not ideal but not end of the world either.