I had the same situation in my kitchen and what we did was get the absolutely cheapest wood-look laminate I could find at the time--I think it was about $1/SF. The click, floating kind so no glue or permanent adhesives needed. I figured since it would only be for a year or two and it was so cheap I didn't care that it would quickly look battered, being so cheap and all. Surprise! That el cheapo floor has held up amazingly well. We drip water on it, drop stuff, have a couple of cats, four adult size folks tromping through and it still looks great. I seriously advise considering laminate. The stuff today seems a lot sturdier than it used to be. After I did mine I discovered IKEA and they have even cheaper wood-look laminate. It really would bear consideration, especially for a short term solution. We're about to take ours up now that I'm (finally) remodeling my kitchen. But it still looks fine and could easily be left on for ???. Good luck. Ann

Fun...what about a faux window/door? Go to Home depot and get some molding and frame out a door/window...3m contact strips have velcro on both sides and are made to hang pictures without marking the wall...you could then have a poster as the "outside" OR... Put the mirror in front of it. OR Hang cheap Ikea drapes across the whole wall.

Avatarwait literally summed up my life right now! Tartanmeup, I don't prep right on the counter. As avatarwait and chispa stated, it's just all the ""stray crumbs". To say that I took wiping down countertops for granted is an understatement. We cringed when they told us how recently they'd done it because I'd much rather formica or laminate over this "stone" as Pam, greendesigns and Debbi mentioned. I honestly couldn't fathom how this could have been an upgrade or worth the cost. I agree with vpierce that glass might not be ideal. I think the butcher's block idea as Pam, chispa and SirJohn suggested would be a good solution for the island since that's where I do all my prep anyway. I keep a large one around when I prep dinner just to try and contain the chaos. The rest of the counters will just have to wait until we redo the kitchen. I would just hate to waste all that a year or two from now. We've just been replacing major appliances, replaced the roof, got solar panels and we are in the process of redoing the deck... so while I spend so much time in there, I just haven't had the ability to give the kitchen any thought. I almost wish there had been no countertops so it'd be higher on our priorities list but that would have definitely limited budget in the long run... Thank you all so much!

Because it seemed important to know how bad the situation is, I removed the tiles and mudboard in the problem area. Underneath is just the sheathing. You can see that most of the wood is still in tact, but it's definitely rotted in the corner by the tub. That spot is still very wet, smells earthy, and I can dig into it with my finger. In a 4" x 4" area, I could make a little 1/2 inch hole easily. Now I'm wondering if the best solution might be to: 1) wait for wood sheathing to dry; 2) put down some kind of underlayer or mortar, and then 3) just put on some of that Flex Seal - as a temporary solution. Or, should I put down some kind of PVC board, or something like that over the sheathing - and then put mortar on that - just in case there's reason to worry about the sheathing in that corner giving in. and the PVC board would keep us from falling through the ceiling (until we do the full renovation)! Thanks everyone for your help!