Thanks Beth H! Seeing the photos helps me visualize it better! If I am understanding this correctly if I decided to have it built up like my sister thinks it should be than it will have to be raised another 6 " then the depth would come out from that point 12"? I am than wondering if 42" would make it to high to use as a counter work space for mixing and cooking? I am 5 6" & Husband is 6ft. Right now I have a beautiful view out the kitchen window. I was concerned if it would be raised 6" it may cut the view off. Would a carpenter have to makes some sort of box to bring it up to 42" or is it built up with Granite? I am wondering what the cost would be? Sorry for all the questions! We are not very handy at doing something like that and the Fabricator told us they do not do any plumbing or carpentry work if we needed it. I know the Granite would have to have steel supports with any overhang over 10". I like the hidden steel supports idea! What would stool height be with the added 6 "? I am guessing maybe 29"?

Pennydesign we are doing Granite

Hate to interject again, but mine in my house is like the diagram Beth shows...Space in front of you is very limited....Plus you probably need to already have a pony wall in place.

Additional height requires bar stools. Right now you would use counter stools. There are adjustable ones, though, like redsilver shows.

More expensive likely:

But this is my favorite idea and you could do this with your wood stained wood!
It would be a semi circle that comes up when you need it, but it can be rectangular also of course!! to table height(because no one I know can sit on a saddle stool for very long), or, this looks so nice too, and and depending on your space...but not be a drop down style. Than your kitchen stays as is, just have a table surface created that with some very pretty supports as recommended, is nice for your kitchen and at table height, you will enjoy alot of hours of using it to be sure! cause any chairs will be very usable.

thanks Red Silver! Those are some awesome ideas too!

Don’t put granite on those old cabinets. Stick with laminate. You do t have to rebuild the island with steel supports with laminate.

Oh Sophie your breaking my heart! Yes my cabinets are old and not the style or color that is in at the moment but I Love Granite! I saw Wilsonart Laminate and it doesn't WOW me! Do you have a laminate in mind that would WOW me?

DON'T raise it. you will hate it. A tiny raised 12in area to do what with? Eat there? Dinner plates are 10in...

90% of the time you WON'T be cooking. would you like to see that raised area blocking your kitchen? or the expansive open look of the kitchen? Ever try to help in the kitchen from a passout bar?

Safety = hello, if the stove is on, then a responsible ADULT is probably there too? Do i need say more?

Who lives there? you or your sister? and if she doesn't like it, she can stay at her house. Just saying...

BTW, I hate passout bars and I cannot wait until i get to rip mine out...

If you want granite you are going to have to figure out how to add steel supports to that island. If you have to pay anyone for labor, it will never ever be worth it.

Better to keep saving and do a more thorough renovation that address all of the issues. Including that cooktop on the island.

shirley,,,if you put beautiful granite on those older cabs, it's just going to make them look 'old'. perhaps you can paint? or just get new doors? up to you.

Wilsonart has this black alicante that's nice

or a faux travertine

they even have a faux marble

look around and see what you like. look at some before and after pictures of older kitchens like yours to see what you can do to update the entire space.

https://thefrugalhomemaker.com/2015/07/23/10-beautiful-kitchens-with-laminate-countertops/

you could even do a very thin overlay of concrete. it's done w/Ardex. look it up on youtube. yes you have to seal this,,yes concrete can stain. but it's cheap and can go right over what you have. You would just have to build a plywood base/kneewall for the overhang portion.

https://www.younghouselove.com/trying-our-hand-at-ardex-concrete-counters/

as for the overhang, if you want to do a bar top size, up to you. yes, you would have a builder frame it out.

if you want to just come out past 10", then do the steel support beams.

just make sure the overhang isn't 1/3 longer than the total depth of that base cabinet. you could also do 'legs' like pictured way up in my first comment for support.

or no more than 12" and do heavy duty metal brackets

Sophie Wheeler Thanks for your insight. Just as Beth H has said with a Beautiful Granite Slab it will make my cabinets look "old".. or older LOL... It's just so hard to find a laminate... Do you have any suggestions?

Wilsonart Calcatta Oro will look good with your wood, and be light and bright and modern.

Closeups

Full sheet.

In a kitchen.

With Daltile’s Rittenhouse Square backsplash in Biscuit.

I disagree with the above...Granite is now all over the place and isn't something "upscale" any more that's just reserved for the wealthy :-/

It's heavier, sure, but it's a nice surface that's hard wearing...

ETA, your cabinets might be old, but they look rather decent to me...maybe even better than Home Depot "new"...

pennydesign granite is a great surface and hard wearing. My cabinets are in very good conditon and better made than the big box stores. That is why they lasted over 25 + years! I love the warm cabinets. I feel that the granite that I really liked was the BIG wavy movements and now looking at my cabinets I think that will be way to busy with all the movement in my cabinets. *sigh*

I understand Sophie's point but I also put new counters on my 20 year old wood cabinets. I did make sure the finish looked good - actually refinished most of them. You are used to the layout of your kitchen and that's fine. I probably would see if I could put a range and vent where the fridge is, put the fridge where the peninsula hits the wall and get a smallish cart / island if needed - might be able to use some of the peninsula cabinetry. That might not be feasible - always hard to tell without a floor plan. Pics of my older refreshed kitchen in my "my pics" idea book.

Thanks! Sophie Wheeler the counter tops would look nice. With the simple and subdued colors though maybe a little more color in the tiles would be more of a pop. Like possibly a blueish/ grey.. ? thoughts?

shirley, why don't you go to the store and take a look of what they have? bring a door w/you. then bring home some of those sample chips and see what looks good w/your lighting. you can always repaint if you have to.

Thanks Beth H I did that LOL.. a few months ago and as you can see still have not decided. I AM open to laminate.. I do like the marble look.. but I just feel that I need a little more color in the tile/backsplash. Everybody seems to like white subway tile... I need a pop of color... I guess when I saw this amazing piece of Granite with all the movement .. It looked like art.. but now with the movement in the Oak cabinets maybe it is to much..

i don't think the movement will be too much. (and I'm so sick of white subways. there are a bazillion beautiful tiles on the market.)

a friend we're working with has these beautiful quarter sawn oak cabs w/a gorgeous dark granite, lots of movement, and beautiful natural hickory floors.

looks beautiful. we've finally decided on a basalt tile backsplash. Once in, it will look stunning.

so, you could do a River white granite, Princess white, or swing over to the dark side and do this Cosmo or Black Horse, or Virginia Mist. you can get it honed or leathered which will take away the polish.

you could also look at a quartz. this is Stellar Cream

or

light bright and modern....I like sophie's pics with that wilsonart sample. Your kitchen has the issue of dark corners, not so much movement with the wood. The whitish surface of a counter and backsplash will tie in with the window trim and re-invigorate the space. the whitish will actually improve the look of the wood. go to houzz and search medium brown cabinets with white counters and check it out. The look can be really stunning and an incredible improvement. Flecks of interest in any white can work well.....I would take it as white as I could dare. are you looking at solid surface/corian?

Thanks Everybody for all the awesome suggestions!!! I really like the Granite and the Quartz and feel my cabinets are in good condition to look nice. My original Granite that I picked out had to much colors and a very busy pattern. I have decided to try to find something very light white and cream with small veining of grays or light cream more softer and lighter. Will hopefully post some pictures when I find a few that work!

thanks redsilver! That is something that I would consider but like you said not so much grey veining but a warmer light caramel veining. If you happen to see anything let me know!

Take a look at some of the LG Viatera line. Some are very gray, but some have a little beige and cream too.

This is White Pearl in my kitchen:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~109854029

Close up:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~120929245

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~88667617

LG Soprano is another one that I think runs warm. Corian Witch Hazel also looks nice with warm toned cabinets.

LG Soprano:

Corian Witch Hazel:

jhmarie the white pearl is very pretty. Is that Quartz from LG? I think the witch hazel maybe a little to dark.. It is pretty though.

redsilver I looked at the link you posted and her counter top looks more white than cream.. Maybe it is just me IDK

Yes, it is a quartz - LG White Pearl. It would cost more than granite probably. I put off my refresh a few months to save up more for my sink - a short apron Kohler Whitehaven which can be installed on a standard countertop. When you have a functioning kitchen, you can take your time. I have some more pics in my "my pics" idea book of close ups of the countertop. In some light it appears more gray. Although not technically a "marble look" quartz, I wanted something that might give the feel of a warm marble on oak - something that was seen in the past on oak wash stands. There is a vintage vibe to my kitchen.

It has a lot of movement close up, but it all blends together when you step back. If you go with a countertop with movement, look for one that does the same thing so it won't look busy with the oak grain. Oak also looks best with a simple backsplash - cream or white subway tile, bead board or simply the painted wall are good choices.

Do you have enough room to go 15". That will give you enough knee room and allow the stools you choose to slip under.

Thanks! I do agree with you on a simple back splash. I like the arabesque style but i don't have a
wide big back splash so I am thinking that pattern might now work.

Jane I measured out 12 and 14" and both would allow enough room for saddle stools to go under and be reasonably comfortable for knees. Since the counter height and width would mostly be used for occasional seating ( when kids are over) I think either one would suit our needs. We mostly have our meals at the kitchen table.

You’re going to have to re-engineer and reconstruct the island to do anything beyond 10” of overhang. You can’t cantilever it that far, as it is a tipping hazard, no matter the material. You will need posts and stretcher bars back to the cabinets. And they will need to match. Or else you will need to plan to paint the island.

And if you can’t DIY the cabinet alterations, you’ll need to pay someone knowledgeable to do it. That adds $600-$1000 to the materials cost for that work. Posts are not cheap either.

Sure. If there is ladder crossbar support under that, and the cabinet rear is sufficiently thick to attach those structural stretchers to, and everything matches the rest of the cabinets. In other words, if the island is redesigned.

Sophie The fabricators say I could extend out 12” . I would need 6 steel posts. I was told you would not see them nor would your knees touch them. The added cost would be $600. They did not say anything about any additional supports. I will have to check with them on that once I choose my counter top.

There are 3 important rules for counter support. They interact with each other, and sometimes one trumps the other.

Natural stone can only extend 10” without adding support.

Quartz can extend 15” without additional support.

Cantilevers must adhere to the 2:3 - 1/3 principal.

Example: A single cabinet depth island could have a 15” overhang with quartz. But that is beyond the 2/3-1/3 cantilever rule, so additional support is needed.

———————-

The other bit is that countertop support has be be properly supported itself. You can’t attach brackets to a 1/8” cabinet back. That isn’t structural. The point of attachment and material The cabinets also have to be securely fastened to the subfloor. Not just resting there. The support for the support is as important as the support itself. The weight path has to be properly transferred down to the floor. That means cabinet back, cabinet bottom, and floor. You csnt just throw in some steel that isn’t properly attached to supporting members.

There are no unimportant parts in the chain of support. If any one of them is substandard, the whole installation is substandard and can fail.

Thank You Sophie for explaining this! It make perfect sense

Hey Everyone... I found this Granite and it is called snowfall. It is a cream background with white, ebony, and some beigy brown in it. Thoughts?

This is a Quartz called Stellar cream

I just love all the comments about "saving" for a real remodel or granite will make your old cabinets look old. It is really about what you personally want & are willing to spend or willing to live with. I installed granite on 28 year old cabinets 6 years ago & I am still happy with the whole deal. We took out a long peninsula & added an island with only 37 inch clearance on one side also. It made my kitchen so much better to work in. Sorry, but no professional required! Still love the reworked kitchen. The only thing I hope to do someday is new doors. I am not personally willing to spend tens of thousands on new cabinets that will not improve anything over the solid cabinets I have now, but that is just me. I really didn't even need granite, but my husband wanted it. Do what you want to do! My son also added granite to lovely 25 year old ash cabinets in his home. He used the granite brackets shown above that go all the way through the cabinets to hold his 12 inch overhang. He actually installed them himself. It worked out great. Follow your heart & not some current theory of must haves.

Love the Snowfall granite Shirley! that will look great with your cabinets. I like it better than the Stellar cream but they both will work perfectly

Thanks Kate! Hoping to find a large Slab and see it in person. Stellar creme is nice too but it kind of reminds me what I have now.

Thanks Cadyren!

Thanks justgottabeme! That is good to know! How far were you able to safely extend it to? I am thinking 12" would be good.

We have a friend that got silestone justogttabeme and he loves his counters too! I just can not seem to find a color that I like for my kitchen. I am still looking/deciding .Would love to see a picture of your counter seating!

justgottabeme your kitchen is beautiful! Very welcoming and homey feeling. I will probably go with the backless seating as you did. It will not be our every day seating and like you will be used mostly for our children/Grandchildren when they visit.

do not use any wax on your cabinets in a kitchen. it's just a bad idea, cleaning-wise.

Love this colonial gold granite too! Thoughts? Not crazy about backsplash though.

Colonial is entry grade, cheaper granite. if you like it, get it! it's the right colors. just don't pay a lot for it.

Beth H.. Entry grade meaning what? Thinner cut? simple design? Softer granite more prone to chipping? I am not looking for a exotic color or anything but want something durable. $40-$50 sq ft be the right price? Thanks!

entry meaning, one of the cheaper options. it's just a type of granite that is readily available for a low cost and used in basic, or economy kitchens. nothing wrong w/the granite itself. I just don't want you to get cheated by someone and paying more for it. an entire slab could be had for less than 1K if you went to purchase it on your own. I don't know what the big box stores sell it for, but 40-ish should be about right. if you're up in the 60-80 range, go somewhere else.

Found a few more.... These are all Quartz.. and the Bold one is a Quartzite which i did kind of for giggles.. but i don't think it is to bad. I thought I would like the colonial gold but it did not look good with the tile flooring..

The 2 Greys.. Babylon Gray and Fossil Gray- 1 is shiny and 1 is a honed leather look. Calacatta Laza and Calacatta Classique almost match my floor a little to good... The one matched my floor a little to perfectBelvedere Brushed Quartzite