I know you already have brackets but what about a stainless steel shelf from Ikea or elsewhere?

BTW, not the OP, but thanks for the link on the Ikea Lagan thread.

I second the idea of using the shelf from IKEA. I have that shelf over my cooktop and it is wonderful! It is cheap too...only $15. It looks fantastic and is very easy to clean.

Oh! The IKEA Grundtal is somethng I considered but in the end it looked to industrial to me! I decided I liked the looks of a floating stainless shelf but they're too pricy for this project. Thanks, though!

You're welcome on the link--did you go to *devoswoodworking* and drool over their wood countertops? Gorgeous but too rich for my blood, hence the *work bench top*....

Another idea is just to stroll through the storage aisle of any big box store near you or a BBB, Marshall's type store and see if anything strikes you there.
Maybe a black shelf to match the mirror?
Yep, I have devo's site bookmarked. Too rich for my blood at this point in the renovation. I'll be using it for a bench and folding counter in the utility/mudroom and a desk/hutch wall that measures 120" by 19 1/2" in the kitchen. My brother-in-law is a woodworking hobbyist and I'm a DIY who is also the GC so that it's all legit with permits. We'll have to seam two pieces together. We may go with Ikea since it's under 2 hours away.
Snowed in today so way too much time on GW!

Another option for an Ikea shelf is the Ekby Mossby shelf, which is a solid shelf made of stainless wrapped around particle board. You can cut it to the length you like and then finish it off with Bjarnum brackets. It comes in a 7 1/2" or 11" depth.

Normally you wouldn't want particle board near the sink, but since it's wrapped in stainless I think it's okay.

Here's a link to a pic of the deeper shelf-- over the sink I think you'd want the shallower one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ekby Mossby shelf

catkin, will you make the shelf 10' long? That gives you a good reason not to buy the ready made shelves, but it also and more importantly will match the counter length and break the 20' wall width into two areas, giving a sense of closure to the openendedness you might now feel when viewing this 20' wall space. I think your kitchen counter taking half the wall width is a good clue in this word picture.

Have you considered buying the same material as the counter top? A ten foot stretch of something similar to smoky topaz laminate, "... a dark sort of charcoal color with muted taupe and black mottling..." or maybe even another whole piece of counter top that you cut down to become a skinny shelf. Since the wall is grey, any color will work, with industrial brackets or any other kind.

Without seeing it, I'd say I'd go for a 6"-8" narrow shelf, at 10"-12" above the counter. Thus, at this height and being narrow, it won't cast shadows -- (Assuming you have light overhead shining down onto the sink and counter! -- and since it's a landlocked kitchen you must have lights!).

With a mini shelf, you can still put something on the wall over the kitchen sink to look a bit like window (psychologically, an opening) -- I'm still figuring out how to do this on my sink wall !! The idea came from arbordomus. (His post is http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg012014495340.html "Small kitchen, big success") and you can see his over-the-sink solution in the first big picture. The solution to missing a window in the kitchen is to hand something reflective over sink. Like a landscape picture, or a mirror, or highly reflective frosted glass snowy white tiles, or...

In my kitchen, we have no uppers on this wall. It's a 14' wall of which 7" is in the kitchen. No wall cabinets, so it's a complete wall, continuing uninterrupted into the adjoining room area (and to windows ten ft away). A similar situation to yours. Right now it's a blank slate so we are thinking through an infinite variety of shelves, tiles, mirrors, picture hangings, etc.

johnliu has drawn a few examples of a miniscule shelf : you can see his "secondary shelf" in his photobucket file if you follow his link he posted in my own thread: (pic#5 but once you're connected to his photobucket files, scroll over to see also pic#20 for the false window idea on the sink wall):

Here is a link that might be useful: post#5 in

Owls 4me, did you check out this website *globalindustrial.com*?
They sell what they call *work bench tops* (among other things) for garage/workshops/tool sheds, etc. Do a search on their site or call their toll free number for info.

They look exactly like the pricey finished maple butcher blocks I've seen in people's kitchens all over the net!

I'm deciding whether or not to use a chunk to cover a 4' stretch of base cabs next to the stove in this kitchen.

I got some Waterlox to try out on the pedestal table top mentioned above. If I'm successful I think I'll go ahead and purchase the top (even though the freight may seem stiff). The savings on the top itself compared to buying a *butcher block counter top* elsewhere would be acceptable to me. Why spends hundreds or thousands more? They come with a rounded or square edge in all different widths and lengths. They're pre-treated with a light mineral oil finish, if that's a concern for you.

I know it would look wonderful in this kitchen I'm putting together! Their rep said if I needed to lessen the size to fit on a cabinet top to just use a Skilsaw. It's 1-3/4" thick.

Not sure about the Ikea butcher block. I have trouble navigating their website and am quite a distance from any physical store locations.

Thanks for chiming in! Let us know what direction you go.

Sorry I didn't read thoroughly and see you answered!

"slugs down more coffee*

Thank you Morton!
I've decided to go with a black laminated board and the Lee Valley brushed stainless brackets I've ordered--they're pretty cool! Part number 00S06.52 A. the 8-3/4" brushed stainless concave bracket.

David I have 36" of distance between the upper cabs over the sink. But I don't want a *bridge* affect. The shelf shelf will be 2' long x 10" deep, it'll have the black matte oval mirror hung horizontally above it--getting the height on this will be key so as not to be cleaning splashes off it too often! On the shelf, I picture fresh flowers, some decorative glassware/pottery and/or a live plant.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I can't say enough how I appreciate them.

catkin

Thanks for the link, I'm off to check it out now!