Good luck with everything, lazygardens. Sorry about the health issues but hopefully it's all behind you now. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

That is awesome. Looking forward to the pictures. Hope you are feeling better.

Hope all goes smoothly now.

Hurray! Hope things go smoothly from here!

Materials as shown, keyed off the existing Saltillo-look floor tile (the fragment) and the re-stained walnut cabinets.

Perfect Plank alder strip, unstained and Waterloxed - $500
Remnant of Juparana Florencia - the only thing that worked with the floor tile $280
Backsplash - incredibly inexpensive cream 3x6 tiles plus grout $45

Sink - Ikea Boholmen 2-bowl with drainboard $180
Faucet - Price Pfister Avanti $140
Fittings - (drains, 1/4 turn valves, supply lines) $70

Wet bar:
Sink - reused existing
Faucet - Aqua Source $80
Fittings - $50

Finishing Materials:
General Finishes Gel stain: $30
General Finishes topcoat: $15
Waterlox: $30
Silicone Caulk/adhesive: $20

Stove and microwave doesn't count, because the old one died, but it was $700 used.

I love that countertop stone. It looks so natural and interesting.

And a bit of a Tah-Dah ... although 2x4s propping up the counters aren't exciting. We still need to install the backsplash, do some trim work, and build the bookcase / wine rack / cabinets that will be where the door-less cabinets are.

Changes:
* the entrance to kitchen widened by reducing counter overhang from 12 inches to 1.5
* the totally useless narrow "breakfast bar" that wrapped around the peninsula at the level of the lower counter was removed, and the upper counter widened.

Actual befores and afters - and a couple of process pics showing sleazy tract home cabinet installation practices later.

Looks great so far! Is the stone on both sides of the range? I think I see it in the picture but hard to see. How do you join the wood counter and the stone at the seams? Just curious. I like the idea of mixing the different materials for the counters. It makes the space so much more interesting. Looking forward to seeing more pictures!

Joins in counters will be covered by Schlüter's "RENO-T" strip tapped into a well-siliconed joint. I will be antiquing their solid brass t-strip to blend with the wood and stone.

Yes, stone is on both sides of the range - useful landing pad for hot stuff. I would have bought a kitchen-full of it, but this is a low-budget update.

I took a cabinet door and a chunk of floor tile to a granite yard that advertises its scraps on Craigslist and told them I wanted two teensy bits of granite and it had to blend with the existing kitchen. The poor salesguy helped me go through 2500+ square feet of stacked scraps and there were just TWO remnants that weren't too greyish, too yellowish, or too whatever-ish. It wasn't actually too bad. I rejected a couple and he narrowed down the remainder to just the reddish toned ones.

A side effect of the new sink is that the disposal and drains are farther back in the cabinet, and way to the left ... I get way more usable undercounter space than previously.

Very nice! You are going to love that extra space under the cabinet with the offset drain. I couldn't believe how much more space there under there. Your butcherblock is beautiful.

Looks great!

Here's the before, with the over/under 1980s stove, cream laminate countertops and faded walnut cabinetry.

Here's an "after" ... minus the backsplash.

It was spread out over several years as finances and schedule and health permitted.

1 - Gel stain on the cabinets to get them back to walnut color. This made the countertops look really bad.

2 - Stove died, got the MW/vent and smooth top range combo. Made the countertops look even worse. Decided to replace countertops.

Bought the granite, stuck it in the garage (almost 2 years)

Wasted a LOT of time hoping IKEA would get the remaining counter top piece I wanted back in stock, finally gave up and sold what I had on Craigslist and ordered alder from Perfect Plank in CA .

Ski season, then bought house in NM ... countertops sat in the garage for a year waiting for me to get back to them.

3 - Did the wet bar counter (or I should say "prep sink" or "coffee bar" to be trendy).

Ski season, norovirus, etc ....

4 - Countertops.

Next up is the backsplash and cabinets where the old breakfast bar was.

Then it's done!

And I finally have a backsplash! Plain cream glossy 3x6 tiles with matching grout ... it was about $2 a square foot.

TIP: For small areas like this, use the smallest grout float you can find, and the smallest adhesive spreaders. It makes it easier. I altered a couple of plastic drywall mud knives - one was just as wide as the single row that runs under the window. And I used a silicon spatula to force grout into the cracks on that row, and in a few other places where the float was too big.

Tile saws are wonderful! Or at least my neighbor's small one was. He buys really GOOD blades :)

Congrats! Looking good :)

Love the alder. You're backsplash looks great!

Not my kitchen, but you can see what the counters looked like ... a narrow (useless) "breakfast bar" and 2 levels of counter.

I widened the upper and got rid of the wrap-around lower section and widened it to match the upper.

With the dining area in an open plan right next to the kitchen, the breakfast bar was useless. Bigger counters!