And here is a photo of the peninsula from the kitchen side ...

Here is a link that might be useful: PB Tibetan Barstool

With only 9" of overhang, your stools will not slide in under it. They will stick out and be obtrusive into the other room, whether or not the counter does. Might as well have enough overhang for real knees and to slide the stools under.

Or, get rid of the overhang and the stools.

I've gotta agree with GreenDesigns. My former kitchen had a tiny overhang on the island and it was just frustrating. It looked silly without stools but stools didn't fit. You couldn't sit comfortably and it was really awkward.

Why don't you try laying some tape down and fill in the area with chairs so you can get an idea how that space would feel if you were to do a proper overhang. You might find it isn't as intrusive as you're thinking. If it is, I'd ditch the overhang and stools too.

I have just such a 9 inch overhang now on my counter and I can't stand it! It is useless and awkward, nothing fits. Because of the walkway from the living room, I will only be able to extend it to 14 inches in the remodel, but those extra few inches will provide a usable counter, with proper space to store the bar stools. Poohpup has a great idea with the tape, it will really help you to get a feel of what the impact will be.

12"-15" or nothing. You may find this area get used more than you think.

Our 12" overhang works well - I would have done more but didn't want to encroach the dining room space. I'm tall an my knees fit just fine.

Thanks all! I will try Pooh's suggestion of taping it off. I'll also look for some scrap cardboard and see about mocking up an extended counter top.

The "do nothing" isn't really an option. As you can see, the shallow cabinet stops midway on the wall. The wall measures 11" and the cab (without the doors) measures 6". I think it would look very odd to stop the counter midway on the wall. And I can't/won't have him rebuild the cabinet (for a 3rd time). Already paid through my nose to have him change to counter height :(

I had planned to have the counter "wrap" the wall slightly, as I've tried to show in this pic.

Thanks again! I will let you know what I decide.

Black,

While I agree with the others about increasing the overhang or forgoing it, I wanted to point out that forgoing it doesn't mean you'd have to re-make the cab. You could simply have the counter overhang come to the end of that wall and leave it as that. No stools.

Good luck. You're getting so close!

Thanks Breezy! Minus my moments of panic, I am getting pretty excited about having a kitchen again. Looking forward to the day when my post reads "Almost Finished Kitchen", "ABB" ... or something like that! :) Thanks again!

Okay, so I did as Pooh suggested and taped it off on the floor, as well as made a mock counter top ... and it's gonna work! 12" it is!

Thank you again so VERY much!

I've read that 12" is not enough for counter-height seating, but my tall husband and I have used a kitchen peninsula with that overhang for many years and never thought it to be anything other than comfortable.

Lori - Thanks for the reassurance. I've heard 12-15, but 15 would really be pushing it for me.

With every decision nailed down, I get more and more excited.

Thanks everyone!