I had formica installed years and years ago when I knew nothing about remodeling or countertops so I certainly wasn't asking for anything extraordinary because I didn't even know what options existed.

I am not sure what preformed means but my formica counters had a "rounded" edge somewhat like the one in your last picture and had no "edge" showing. When I remodeled and replaced them, I knew a bit more and thus "agonized" over what edge I would select.

Given my absolute lack of knowledge at that point, it is hard to believe that having a "seamless" installation is high end or unreasonable to request since I would probably have just accepted whatever the formica installation company I got out of the Yellow Pages told me :).

FWIW, and just from reading posts on this site, I have read that formica is not necessarily less expensive than some stone counters but current pricing on formica versus stone is not something I am personally familiar with.

Thanks Helen- so far the quote I have for corian is 5.5k, for Ortensia laminate with square edge shop one quoted me 2k and shop 2 quoted me 1k. My dad is also willing to do the laminate since he is a carpenter and has all the tools, but counters aren’t something that he does all the time and I’m really hoping to avoid that brown edge if a professional counter shop does it :). I’m not interested in stone or quartz at this point.

Shop 2 is going out of business, I promise.

You want post formed laminate. But you won’t get post formed rounded *side* edges. Those will be flat.

Thanks everyone- I might need to change my preferred color to something that I can find preformed. So far I’ve only encountered VTI on my internet search for preformed available in my area, and it doesn’t seem like Ortensia is on their list of colors. I’ll probably squander even more time trying to find another manufacturer that does make it. Shop #1 turned their nose up at a miter corner with this pattern though, and I haven’t seen very many pictures of it in real life to determine if a miter corner would look odd with this one.

In the meantime I’ve ordered a sample of Formica argento Romano, that does come preformed. I like that the pattern looks nice with a mitered corner.

Shop #2 thinks that if we were able to get the Wilsonart decorative edge that I would notice it’s a separate piece because of how light it is? He is also in a more rural area than I am and only does laminate, so hopefully that is the main factor impacting his prices since there are a few reviews several years old mentioning his prices.