We had ours made at a local wood supply place. I finished them with pure tung oil, which was a slow process, but after reading as much as I could, which wasn't much as there seems to not be a lot of information on this type of thing, I felt it was the better finish to use. Other people use Waterlox.

I love them and have had no problems with them at all. I always was in the habit of wiping up spills, even on my crappy formica, and continue to do so with the wood.

We went with Hickory, which looks similar to Walnut. As far as cost, I felt they were very reasonable and I'm thinking we spent around $800 to have them made. I have an island that is 4'x 6' and then an L-shaped perimeter run that is about 11' and 4' at the turn plus a small cabinet section that is about 2-3' long.

Pretty much, after living with them for a year now, I love them and don't know why more people don't use them, other than I think they are misunderstood, but they are a great surface to work on, IMO.

I shopped around for ideas and then prices and ended up buying mine from Craft Art. They have high end finished tops and also DIY tops. I've noticed that lots of people talk to local cabinet makers, but I'd rather buy from someone who's been in business and has a lifetime warranty, which they do. Hope this helps!

I'll attach a link--they have TONS of pictures!

Here is a link that might be useful: Craft Art Wood Countertops

I am not sure where you are, but Brooks custom did cherrys counter in my old house and cherry and pewter in my new house. I have been happy with them. They service the NY metro and then some.

My GC also mentioned Grothouse, I think?

Here is a link that might be useful: wood countertops

Editionk (here on GW) gave me this man's business info when I was shopping for my own wood island top. I did talk to him, he was very reasonable and ships anywhere I believe (he is in Michigan). He quoted me right over the phone, with shipping and all!

Here was her email to me..... blocktop.net. They are in MI and it's a small comp. and they ship. For my quote (I have not ordered yet) they were cheaper than the DIY at Craft Art. I know someone on GW used them in 7/2010 and that's how I first heard of them.

I did decide to go with a local guy. They were the same price as the guy in Michigan, and I figured this guy is here in town, so if I had any problems, I could deal with him easier.

Good luck! You should be able to do some google searching on wood tops when you type in garden web after it to see all the posts related to this topic. I am still up in the air on tung oil vs waterlox....

Look at Devo's website...
http://devoswoodworking.com/Butcher_Block_Photos/PhotosWalnut.htm

Lots of pics on there!

Thanks! I really love the look of these : )
Do you think it will look good to have two different countertops when I am having two different cabinetry colors. If you take a look at the original post I have my inspiration pics. I think I'd do the walnut on the black island. Not sure if it's all too much though or if I should stick to one countertop color on both.

We did walnut on the island and I stained it first, and am in the process of finishing it with waterlox. We purchased the top from Craft Art's on-line DIY shop.
Here's a pic:

Jillandmatt, I can't take my eyes off your gorgeous kitchen.
Your island is adorable!

mmmm....so beautiful jillandmatt! cannot wait to see it when it's all put together!!

as for 2littlefishies question, i read on here that it was recommended to do either two cabinet colors OR two top choices, but not both. i think in most cases this holds true, but i do think there are times when doing two cabs colors AND two different tops would look nice.

sorry, that was probably zero help :0

Jill - I also agree that your kitchen is gorgeous. It's EXACTLY the look I'm going for, down to the pendant lights. I have to ask if the pendants are too bright b/c of the clear glass. I asked about that on this site and got many negatives reviews about them being too clear and harsh. I still love the looks.