For my kitchen make over dream.....(actually just new counter tops). I really like laminate counter tops. Look great and waaay less expensive than other kitchen counter top materials. However I really want an under mount sink. Unfortunately what I am hearing is home owners (from all across the country) who say they love their laminate kitchen counter top and have under mount sinks. Yet I got "official" reply's from Formica, WilsonArt and the local "box" stores that they don't recommend under mount sinks with laminate. Or that there is a special sink by Karran they recommend. The nearest Karran dealer to me said he had Karran but wouldn't recommend it! Then someone mentioned drop in flush mount sinks.....by Blanco....starts at $2,500. or something crazy like that! But I haven't gotten much information about other drop in flush mount sinks, hopefully less expensive. So are under mount sinks and laminate another of my impossible dreams? Are drop in flush mount sinks a good option, assuming they work with laminate?

Hi I am not sure if it's the right sub-forums to post this. Apologies if it isn't. We are looking into remodeling our dated kitchen and opening it to the living room. Our house is a single story with high cathedral ceilings throughout. Currently the kitchen is one of the few rooms with a drop ceiling, which we really don't like. Before talking to contractors and possibly designers about the idea, I wanted to see if someone could give me general pointers on identifying beams, load bearing walls/posts. - the main/tall wall between the main living room and kitchen: can this be partially open? I suspect that there are 2-3 main posts around the main opening - I suspect there is a "dressed up" beam separating the kitchen from the smaller living room - there is a gas fireplace we 1/ don't like 2/ don't need and we find it really limiting our kitchen remodel options; we hope we can get rid of it Ideally we would want to identify everything we can get rid of without having to install new structural posts/beams and work around that. Any advice would be really appreciated. thank you [b]Larger views...... [url]https://imgur.com/a/mIvwpEU[/url][/b] [attach]99875[/attach] [attach]99876[/attach] [attach]99877[/attach] [attach]99878[/attach] [attach]99879[/attach]