Thank you all. I did not think of the backing. I am not sure how the glass backsplash is applied. I didn't even think about it not having a backing. I will look into that, as well as the grout color. I am also still waiting to see if I can get the random marble strip carrara and see if I like that better. BTW,Cat mom, I remember admiring your blacksplash the first time I saw it. It's beautiful. Will take pictures tomorrow in the daylight. Busy day: appliances being delivered and I have a film noir class.

Okay I will burden you with the details. Thank you so much for helping. The house is a 150+ year old Cape with most of the old previously renovated out unfortunately. I feel that we should remain faithful to the age and style of the house itself but I can go nuts with my new-found change in style. You'll see the original moulding around the window in the living room picture which had been around three of the seven total windows in the room. We had moulding custom made for the remainder and for around the doors which enter into the room. Looking at the mess in the dining room (wallpapering complete!) you can see that I have a crazy mix of styles going on. I've got my former neighbor's dining room set--I'm actively storing it for her--my mother's antique dishes (the blue on white Chelsea-ware is over 300 years old and passed down to the oldest daughter) and cranberry glass, the floors are stained very dark and you can see that picked up the in ottoman/table and legs of couch. I'm represented in those dark floors, couch and tables, the crystal lamp you might be able to see on the floor in the dining room picture, the whacky IKEA chandelier, those JC Penney grommet top drapes on brushed steel rods--they don't carry them anymore so I can't link them--they are textured, mossy or dark avocado green with appliques circles on them in varying colors which can read yellow/gold/bronze, the cheapo area rug, the fig tree--there are many plants in the room--it's got southern, western and northern exposure--great light, the stool the plant's on is a decrepit relic from years ago in the kitchen. I'm also thrilled with the iron work rectangles art on the wall above the tv and yes, I even like the shiny green paint and steel handles I put on the credenza! The couch and love seat fabric is nubbly and multi-toned, the color is putty. In the dining area I'm responsible for those bright green chairs and they belly up to the table with the others (please note the fabric I chose to recover the seats with!). There's a blue chair at the computer area which you can't see and other blue elements not in the photos. If I could ditch everything and start again I'd probably be in a mid-century modern type phase. I adore the way Candice Olson designs. I don't want white, it reads too cold in this room--the dining room walls were white before the wallpaper. I want saturated color and the right gray could work--what is the right gray though? I thought the rug would pull in the ivoire--the blonde probably is too yellow. I'm bad bad bad with choosing color. After much deliberation I'd choose a BM color and bring home the little pot and HATE it. I gave up and went with the ivoire I saw at work (entryway and stairs) (love it) and just thought the blonde would work; I'd seen them in entire rooms and they were good. Seeing the wallpaper finally going up I had the funny feeling that those colors really wouldn't work and in you all come to help me. Thank you!

That's hazel - same as mine :) With a blue eyed and a brown eyed parent, if the brown eyed parent is heterozygous ie a carrier of the blue gene (proven if she or he has a blue eyed child or known if one of their parents was blue eyed then they must carry the blue allele) there is a 25% chance of blue and 75% chance of brown. If the brown eyed parent is homozygous brown, all their children will have brown eyes but carry the blue allele as well (could have blue eyed children themselves). My father has blue eyes and my mother has dark chocolate brown, my siblings both have blue eyes and I have hazel so clearly my mother is heterozygous and also carries the blue allele which is covered by her dominant brown. But hazel eye genetics are not well understood, it is thought there are "modifier" genes that create a blend of pigments. http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask126

My brother and SIL both have brown eyes/brown hair. Both of their boys, my nephews (now grown adults) have blonde hair/blue eyes. My DH and I both have blonde hair/blue eyes and everyone always thought their boys were ours, when we were all together-when they were little.