Hey biondanonima! I rarely, if ever come over to this forum, but popped in a whim (bathrooms are next on our horizon!). I'd called Kerry to let him know I'd given out his name and number and he told me he'd spoken with you when he called back. Trust me when I say you will be much happier with his work than what I'm seeing here in your pics. He is extremely conscientious, and takes great pride in doing things the way they are supposed to be done (he's a second or third generation tile guy). You have to promise to email me and let me know how it all comes out (let me know if you post new pics here since, as I mentioned, I don't frequent this forum--yet!).

Teacats: Thanks for the great link. That is one of those sites that I can get lost in for hours--hours I don't necessarily have, but it's fun to look. Lynn: I like the two above the fireplace, too, I just thought there should be more "dragonfly" blue there, but they do look good. Our designer brought those over last night as placeholders and they're leaning there now because I couldn't commit. mitchdesj: I know who did it; our daughter doesn't sit down gently either. ideefixe: You can't tell from the photos, but there's a big built-in in that room that sort of plays off the terracotta color, and the floor does, too, but maybe they're both more caramel. Bringing some terracotta into the room is a good idea. valinsv: I was worried about the overcrowding--and so was the designer apparently. I think we're only waiting for a table between the two dragonfly chairs at this point. The others, if there are others, will be added very slowly. Thanks for your comments everyone! I'm feeling very good about the room and really appreciate your comments.

Regrets are difficult to guess. I'm pretty sure that the IKEA counters are cut on the long grain, rather than true end grain butcher block, so it'll nick up a lot more than something like a Boos butcher block. It's also that much cheaper that you could replace it every so often for the price. Personally, I wouldn't want to have scorch marks. I'd rather keep a lovely trivet or two on the counter. I'm also not one to chop on a counter, but if you're going to do it, the IKEA BB should be easy on your knives. Wood cutting boards are naturally somewhat antimicrobial, so one might assume that scrubbing down the counters regularly would make them clean enough to cut on. I think with your other, sleek materials, a wood counter that's too dinged up would look out of place like the cousin who wears holey old jeans to a funeral. I'm serious about the trivets. Scorches could look really bad. My maple cutting board is only gently scratched after many years, so I'm thinking the BB counters would look just fine (and could be sanded if there were some particularly egregious problem), but not with the scorches. BTW, I have a cousin (one who knows how to dress appropriately), who has an old farm kitchen with counters she uses they way you're speaking of (sorry, no pictures), and I think there are even a couple of scorches, and it looks fine, but that's with three different kinds of cabinets, and different countertops, and different colors, and all of it at least 20 years old, some of it 100 years old. I just think that with the Caesarstone, SS and new white paint the scorches are that one step over the line that will ruin the effect.

I guess I'm a sentimental old fool (at 53, LOL). Here is my experience... I have a few picture books printed online and they are great. However, IMHO, they can't compare to actual printed (or developed) pictures. I was tasked with writing a biography of my M&D's life, and believe me, it wasn't short! To do this I used verbal accounts from my M&D; a few thousand slides from my M&D, GP's and Great A&U; hundreds of photographs; my Great Aunt's daily journals; and tape recordings we sent from overseas to my GPs'. I digitized and transcribed almost all of it. Even though the slides were decades old, the digital quality was amazing. The scanned photographs, even the old, old, B&W's, were generally good quality. I only used a few pictures that were taken with a digital camera. The best part of the whole process was the obvious telling of their life story by my parents to me. As an adult you hear stories you weren't aware of as a child or wouldn't have been privileged to. The second best was handling the old photographs. Actually feeling them in my hands, turning them over to see if there was any writing on them, thinking of all those who had looked at them before me. Right up with this feeling was the handling of letters and my Aunt's journals. It's as if I could re-touch family members deceased through the pictures, letters, and journals. The nostalgia cloaked me with love when sifting through the pictures, holding each one in my hand and remembering. The biography is now complete and published. It's an amazing story and there are pictures, journal excerpts, and even conversations from the tapes that were transcribed (like when my sister was born and my Dad got the other four kids' reactions and my Mom talked to my Grandparents right after the birth). This is a long winded way to say that I prefer, much prefer, holding and looking through actual photographs to looking at the pictures printed in a book. If they are in a photo album, you can still take them out, look at the back, handle them, scan them, kiss the faces of your loved ones, hold them next to your heart. It's just not quite the same, for me, when it's a picture printed on a page of a book.