If you have the space do it I have never regretted having too much counter and I love waterfall counters I think they toally suit the MCM feel.

Thanks Patricia. Slightly worried that the large waterfall will overpower the room. Given the dark redwood ceilings, and floring, and wood cabinets, I'm thinking white is the only way to go. Thoughts?

Have you tried placing the stools to see how close you are to the window and the sofa? Do you need the storage? Won't it be awkward to access the cupboards, moving the stools out of the way and going under the overhang? Or am I misunderstanding, there won't be cupboards on the stool side, just a flat panel like your inspiration photo.

It would work best if this wasn't a bar for seating. Just use it like a buffet. You must have not only knee room but room to scoot up close enough so you can eat without having food in your lap.

Could you consider a wooden top that folds back on itself or pulls out when not in use? That's a very long span so it that idea might not be practical. Just thinking out loud.

Thanks for the comments.

Re: Awkwardness on cupboard access: We would use the bottom cabinets for storing items that aren't necessarily used every day. We would design 'falsies' for the top portion, as yes, opening a drawer underneath a cabinet wouldn't be easy.

Re: Buffet. How much knee room would you recommend for eating? We were leaving ourselves 12 inches in the plan. Sounds like you'd recommend more.

12” is fine that is all I have and we are tall I think if you store stuff you rarely use in the cabinets it works well ..

MD's RX: 54" depth would be massively cool if you have the space but that's the problem, you really don't the living room will start to feel dwarfed by monolithic box, plus you need a little breathing space between zones kitchen shouldn't end and living room begin at the same line.

MD: Thanks for the insight. Couple things I should clarify. The room off the kitchen is more of a TV watching/lounge space. Our formal living area is on the opposite side. We have a post and modern beam house, that is divided by a wall. The couch that is currently there is not permanent, it is actually far too large for the space. Does this change your RX at all, or would you still recommend forgoing the cabinet space and building a framed-in peninsula with 42" depth?

Added another picture of the layout on paper. I'm starting to think that we can go bigger given the layout. Included space for the stools as well.

The new info does clarify, thanks! Sounds like you are treating it more as a non TV watching centric room, more a lounge or café environment so your peninsula is central to activity, the new stools will be used frequently (probably mostly), If you and the people seated there (most likely using electronic devices, think outlets!), don't mind moving or getting up to allow you access to storage (depending on how often you need it) and if you are heavy entertainers who put out a big food spread, you could go with extra depth; otherwise I'd use the extra inches in the lounge café area. One more thing, try to connect, unify the space with colors and materials so it does read as one related space. One more, one more thing consider swivel stools so guests can switch from kitchen to lounge centered activity.

I recently finished a similar job: The Toast of the Town House on my projects page, we relied mostly on paint colors and carpet tiles to connect all zones from entry to kitchen ,to lounge, to living room.

I think it's going to be one massive counter that may overpower the room. I like the idea of the waterfall counter but worry it's going to add bulk to the already bulky, additional cabinets. Visually the look without the cabinets would be best, but if you need the cabinets functionally, then I guess keep them.

How about some sort of sliding counter that overlaps as a bar at bar height? Something on wheels? This is a bed, but that sort of idea.... You can retract it when not in use and adjust the depth... with some neat casters that lock (for safety).

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No harm in not rushing when the result looks so good! You nailed it, love the white counter against all the wood. Good luck with the hardware choice.