New countertop plans

In my last post, about the Dremel, I said how I discovered that this countertop didn't go all the wall to the wall.  Well, I got Ryan to try out my Dremel and got him to take off a piece of the backsplash lip on the main wall.  Again, a large gap.  It really seems like someone had hacked 3/4 of an inch off at installation.  I have no idea why.  I say 'hacked' because it looks just that.  Its not a smooth cut.  The countertop goes to the wall there on the right and you can see where the lip started.

There is no easy way to fix that so . . . I will be getting my new hardwood plank countertop THIS YEAR!  Whoop!  I had already measured it out and 'designed' it about a month ago.  Mitre cuts are not my thing, nor Ryan's, so I found a way to do my countertop without them!  I got the idea off Pinterest to stagger the corners and I love it.  Here's my design:

The 'box' at the top is where the sink will go and the 'box' on the left is where the oven goes.  So basically, this will be built with 1"x6" and 1"x4" hardwood planks.  I am planning to use oak planks.  Pine would be much cheaper and I will be using pine for my tabletop and my breakfast bar (more on those plans later) but for kitchen countertops, a hardwood is necessary for durability.  Knicks are welcome for the other areas, thus the use of pine, but for countertops and the need to keep things waterproof, hardwood is the answer.  I've only checked at Kent Building Supplies so far but they only carry pine, oak, and birch in 'affordable' lumber.  They do have exotic woods but those run anywhere from $6 per foot and up so definitely not an option.  Oak is cheaper than birch, at least at Kent's it was.  Thus, I chose oak.  

I will not be starting these for another month or two but when I do, I will definitely take videos and pictures to document the details.  I am going to be working on doing my mom's kitchen island first and taking all the wallpaper beadboard off my cabinets.  (I got the island totally stripped of the beadboard wallpaper!)  Then, once warm weather becomes a more steady thing here, Ryan & I will begin stripping our kitchen cabinets down to get them ready for priming and painting.  My new paint gun arrived this week!  :)