IMO waterfall counters are best in very contemporary kitchens so post a pic of the kitchen and some clue as to your actual style. As for weight a good wood counter is not light weight either and it weight is an issue you will need to consider the structure of the home . Any good wood worker can do this style but I need more info. Post all new info her ein a comment DO NOT start another post

The miter will swell and shrink through the seasons, and open up a gap, if you do not have pinpoint humidity control inside your house, in all seasons. Mitered edges expose the most cross grain joining of any type of joint, and have the most movement.

If you do this, you need a high skills woodworker or cabinet maker to do something like a dovetailed splined miter joint. This is not going to be any type of money saver. It will cost more than a basic stone.

Put a wood top on a modern feeling island with slab doors, or no doors/drawers. You don't need a waterfall to get warmth.

It seems like it would look like a bench, not a counter -- like the pics posted above do.

Thank you All! … I love how they look. The granite alone seems morbid looking (tombstone) … wood def warms it up… don’t you think?

What is that wood by the floor going to look like after the cleaning lady comes through with all her chemicals and cleaning appliances. That bottom edge will absorb water. It will look like a beat up toe kick if you are not careful.

You are asking for agreement, you need a skilled craftsman, and you can't just "order it".

So do as you like and p.a. y : )

The photos you posed look very beautiful, but I don't know if it would be worth the cost and effort. You could get the same effect if you used a wood top, or if you did a stained wood island.

And you could add wood elsewhere for warmth.

It would be far cheaper to just do the island in a stained wood finish. High end custom wood tops like that cost way more than most stone tops. And that is if you can find someone with enough skills to make it happen. It's not just go buy a $200 piece of butcher block from a box store and throw it up there, and glue another to a side. Any DIYer can make it looks like a Hobby Lobby craft project.

I can’t seem to get a photo to post right now, but my last home had a solid walnut waterfall countertop for our kitchen island. It only had the waterfall on one side, not both because I wanted a towel bar and electrical outlet on the non waterfall side. Pros were that it was comfortable to sit at and it was stunning! Cons were that it required more attention and upkeep than stone. We had an undermount sink in that island, so we used Waterlox to finish the wood. I don’t know where you’d get someone to do that... my husband built ours since he is a very talented woodworker with top of the line tools. (I did the Waterlox finish myself) Maybe check into your local woodworkers stores to see if they can put you in touch with anyone? For us it was ‘cheaper’ than stone if you only count the cost of the walnut and Waterlox. But if you count the cost of tools and experience it was a LOT more expensive than stone. If we had to pay someone else to make us what my hubby achieved then it would’ve been an absolute budget buster. But it sure was the star of the kitchen. Heck, I’d argue that it was the star of the entire home even though it was a beautiful home in a gorgeous neighborhood.

There's no reason you couldn't do it, but as others have suggested, it will require more maintenance and will likely be pretty expensive. I'd go to a reputable custom cabinetmaker for this. Personally, I think it looks great. It's a splurge that would really look beautiful.

Thank you all! Great discussion… one can dream … right?

On HGTV - I think it was a recent Down Home Fab show, they used a prefab sheet of reeded wood on the island, and commented that it was an inexpensive solution.

P.S - reeded wood on the sides, not the top!