Why not put 1 1/2" by 3/4" wood on the front edge of the shelves. It would serve two purposes. Make the shelves much stiffer, and add some interest. You can glue them on, and perhaps, if you have a biscuit cutter biscuit them on. I hate face nailing but it may be needed but very few. The glue will hold once it dries. You can then route a decorative top and bottom on the 1 1/2" material. Say an ogee on top and a roundover on the bottom?
If you go with just 3/4" material I would just glue and clamp them. The glues today will hold up well. I can't tell you how many counters with wood edged I built that way over the years. Nails, even if you fill and match the stain perfectly, will someday show, so I avoid them where ever I can.
Your cabinets look GREAT .. Good Job !

Check out:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43614
These are edge clamps to hold the wood on while the glue dries. Harbor Freight is in texas as far as I can tell

One easy way is to us a roundover bit on both sides of an oak board to make what is called a bullnosed edge. I am including pictures of an oak ply bookcase I made this way. You can then rip off as wide a piece as you want. I ripped this trim just a bit wider than the edges of the bull nose. You could do the 2" wide trim with the same router bit---it would be flatter in the center, but have the same edges as the 3/4" trim

I used 16 gauge nails in a air nailer and covered the holes with Stain Putty. This powder is mixed with the stain used on the project, making it almost invisible.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a337/HandyMac/onager005.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a337/HandyMac/onager003.jpg

In the first picture, just about an inch to the right of the upright is a filled nail hole.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Thanks for the suggestions. I went and ordered some of those clamps (much cheaper than at the local store where I saw them). I'll check into the stain putty, too, in case the glue doesn't hold (but it sounds like it will).
I'm a little nervous about the router, so I might start practicing this weekend on pieces of pine I have laying around. The oak stuff costs so much more that I worry about messing it up. It would be nice if the verticals could match the other edge. I guess I just need to start using it and see if I can get an edge I like. I also need to price oak 2" pieces. $30 here, and $30 there adds up really fast. If I weren't having fun with this, I'm guessing it would have been cheaper to buy the cabinets already made (which doesn't seem right, but maybe they don't use as good of wood).
Speaking of oak, I read somewhere about putting a 'filler' on the top so that the counter surface would be smooth for writing on. Do you guys use that or do I just put a hard finish on top of the stain and that'll do?
Well, back to measuring for drawers. Again, not sure that it's cheaper to get a big piece of 1/2" birch and cut it all up, or just buy the silly drawers already made.
Jennifer

Laminate a piece of Formica on the top. That is much better than filling and trying to get a smooth hard finish on the top. I've done it both ways and the Formica is much much nicer.

Use MDF and put a band of oak around the front/sides. All you need is a paint roller to apply the adhesive to the top and the back of the Formica---trimming the Formica a bit bigger than the top. Use some sticks---dowels/cutoffs/etc. to hold the laminate off the top---once the two glued surfaces touch---they bond and cannot be pulled apart. A J roller rolles out any bubbles. Then use a piloted flush trim router bit to trim the laminate and a piloted chamfer bit to ease the front/side edges.

BTW, you can get a router bit that will cut biscuit slots---so you can use biscuits.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

I spent part of yesterday making my drawers. I used the router to round the top edges of the wood, so I'm more familar with it and less worried about it.
I've already got the top of the cabinet made in 3/4" oak plywood. It's a built in cabinet shelving unit, so I don't think the formica will give it the formal look I want.
I will look into the router bit for biscuits. I don't know if it matters that I don't have a plung router, just one in a table.
I do think your formica with the oak edge looks nicely done. I just don't think it's the look we want. We're building a little castle and we're trying for formal in the tower rooms.
Jennifer

Here is a link that might be useful: building the tower

There are many colors of Formica---many that look like granite or other stone. And other techniques by which to apply/finish the application.

But, your project, your way. :)

If you really want a natural looking oak top, use a neutral filler to smooth the grain and research epoxy coatings---bar top epoxies---as they will be the longest lasting surface.

Please post the final pics----you are doing a really good job!

Very nice castle my lady Jennifer
Be shur to read the bar top epoxies closely a lot of them are not hard and will not take to writhing. I did one awhile ago that if you left a bottle on it over night there would be a nice permanent ring the next morning. It was a two part mix pour on trowel around heat with a torch to get the air bubbles out. Looked and felt very hard but ended up really soft. Might try just finishing and putting a piece of glass on the writhing surface. As for the noising you could see if your HD has any moldings that would work. I often use a triple bead for such things

Neat castle! Do you also have a passing familiarity with making chain mail & Middle Ages weapons???

I couldn't help but notice a few things from your pictures.

First, I would shorten the whole case. Instead of making it wall to wall (10ft) I would leave an open area in front of the steps. It looks really close. Like someone would be taking their life in their hands to open the drawers on the left. Then you wouldn't have to worry about that seam in the counter on the right.

Second, there isn't any room to install crown on the top of the cabinet. The top should be a few inches down from the ceiling.

Third, isn't there a breaker panel behind the left side? Where's the access panel for that? Maybe I just can't see it behind the column. I can see a receptacle in the middle of the back, hopefully it has an extension ring on it.

Again, if you find moldings you like, or make your own, try to make them long enough so you don't have to piece them.

Bob,
I realized about the crown moulding, eventually. What I plan to do now is put in valances between each set of uprights. If I give the valances a bit of room above each arch, I should be able to attach the crown to them and not look too odd.
There is a breaker panel on the left side. We'll leave that with the panel/cover, but open to the room. No books in front of it. We put an outlet below it in the cabinet, if that's what you mean by receptacle. What do you mean by an extension ring?
I think with the crown across the top, I can get 3-4' pieces and put drops in between over the vertical parts of the cabinets. That way no piecing.
Jennifer

The reason metal or plastic boxes are used is to protect the flammable wood our houses are made of from sparks that may happen at electrical connections. They are usually installed so that they are flush with the finished wall surface, drywall in your case. When you put a cover on them, that seals them away from anything flammable. If you then install a cabinet, or sheet of plywood over the wall at that point, the finished surface is no longer flush with the front of the box. A gap now exists between the cover and the sides of the box, a gap lined with flammable wood. There are 'extension rings' available that extend the box out flush with the new surface. As a matter of fact, this is a requirement of the National Electrical Code. They're cheap and simple to install.

Thanks for explaining. We put the electrical box in after the cabinet wood was there, so the box is flush out with the box. I will take the cover off and be sure it extends out just a little.
Jennifer