Off the shelf kitchen cabinets were bought from Home Depot and rebuilt to make them stronger and longer lasting. 3/4 plywood was given a cherry stain and multiple coats of varnish to be used as a counter top. The counter top was supposed to be only temporary but it has gotten good reviews from guests so I decided to go with it. In 2012 I plan on adding v-groove 3/4 inch cherry around the counter base and cherry for the kick-plate. I am thinking of using stamped tin or something simple for the backsplash. There is a longer description of how the cabinets were rebuilt under another category in this blog.