I took a couple of things with me when I went to buy pipe, etc. Some had to have conduit, some re-bar and some PVC. Mostly this was for the teacup feeders, and depended on what I used for the bottom piece (bud vases, bottles etc.) I have not done any totems that used any of that sort of things. I did do a couple of glass mushrooms that had bud vases on the bottom tho. We used a reciprocating saw to cut the BBs in half. I held and turned the ball (it was sitting on a concrete block) while Bill ( I miss him) did the cutting. All my plate flowers just 'hang on the wall' with plate holder wires.....

I'll echo the thoughts not to skimp on the range, but I do want to share with you...we were going to get a Dual Fuel Wolf (36"). One big savings (a few thousand) would have been to drop that down to a gas only. And then our ultimate savings was to skip Wolf all together and go with a Lacanche, which is basically the same thing, but made in France and it has color :) Ok we didn't save much...but we'd been toying with upgrading the 36" to a 48" wolf and instead got a 55 1/2" Lacanche for the same price as the 36" wolf. With in that space we also got a warming cabinet, which saved a couple grand on the warming drawer we didn't need anymore, so there was still savings and we got all we'd ever want in a stove. In our rental we have the same amount of space and wanted a nice looking range so we went with an Aga, which was much less in $$ but still had the look we were shooting for in a 36" range. Skip, a good friend of ours has the Kenmore Pro Series Range and he likes it quite a bit. He's a chef and uses it to it's utmost. His comments in discussing our choice were that he'd like that extra oomph he'd get with a Lacanche but considering that this range came in their home, he's very happy with it. They have had repairs though I think three or four times??? Issues with heat regularity on the oven were a repeated problem and I think one of the burners had a clicking issue if I remember right (this is a conversation from a couple of years). I have eaten at their home many times...he can cook like a saint on that range :) Saint Chef that is heh heh Oh now on the hand made subway tiles...I built the poorhouse that pecanpie is residing in out of the things. I'm not going to tell you how much I love them...I do...but I could have done other things with that money. I'm not sure it was the best use of our funds for an item that I actually want to have take backstage to the other bling in the kitchen. I know KNOW you can acheive a fabulous backsplash look without spending the thousands I did...and the rent on the poorhouse just ain't cutting it to recoup those costs...Pecanpie...rent's going UP UP UP!

Davidro1.... You are correct in that the LR/DR black granite tiles are set on the diagonal. The foyer terrazzo tiles are set 'square' to the front door. The kitchen entryway from the foyer is flanked by louvered double doors which I plan to remove along with the door trim. I plan to open up the entryway to the ceiling. The current transition is awful as I think it sits up too high and when I hit it with my foot (which I tend to do a lot), it is reminder that I don't like it. I plan to make the transition flush with both floors. As I mentioned in my original post, I was going to use a strip (two+ inches wide) of AB granite to serve as a visual transition in the Foyer/Kitchen entryway. Since I am now going to use a terrazzo tile, I don't think I need to repeat this transition in the other entryway. The Breakfast space (which is contiguous to the task area) is closed off by a swinging door (that is never used). I plan to remove this also and open up to the ceiling. The sliding glass doors (as shown in my mockups) open up to a balcony which is no longer a functioning space. We moved the doors outward bringing the space indoors gaining almost five feet. The remaining balcony 'space' is about 18 inches deep....just enough space for a few small pots of herbs. I went to three granite/tile places today looking at terrazzo tile. My one positive accomplishment....I think I am going with an 18" square, rectified tile. I had thought to use a 12" size but after adjusting my thinking and visual perspective, I think the larger tile will work - unless someone is willing to tell me otherwise and explain the supporting design principle. The color will be a lighter, less busy pattern similar to ArizonaTiles 'Torreon Stone' My design vision doesn't see to be too far off from yours. I have tentatively selected maple with stain/wash/glaze/whatever to create this sort of look. I realize I might have to change my wood species to achieve it.: The granite selection seems to be a moving target right now. I had originally selected Imperial White which is a very tight, fine grained 'granite' (and I use that term with much chagrin). It was the closest granite that I could find that had a somewhat even look of engineered quartz. I wanted a stone that was not very busy and fairly even in color which EQ provided - but I didn't like the looks of after five years of use. After thinking that this stone 'was the one', I learned via the world-wide-web that this material is actually an Orthogneiss which means it needs lots and lots (did I say lots?) of pampering. After finding this out I've done two things....1) lots of reading about sealers and 2) started looking at Bianco Romano...which I'm not really keen on the garnet accents but at least they are fairly small on the slabs that I'm considering. Imperial White not-granite slab (picture color is not accurate, only posting to show the look): Backsplash, I don't know if you saw my comment on another posting, but I credit your Clippings of reminding me that I had a solid glass backsplash in my Inspiration folder. My only conundrum is whether to paint the back ala Palimpsest or frost it and place it over a painted wall. The drawback with the frosted-over-the-painted-wall version, is if I ever want to change the kitchen paint, then this one portion will present a challenge...which I have a whole other thought tangent regarding paint colors. *sigh* There are other small design elements that I plan to add which I won't bother you with in this post unless you express an interest. Thanks for taking the time to read this and for taking the time to reply to my post! Pepper

I like your set up oldbat2be. Thanks for the picture. It helps to see other placements. I think we want the faucet in the center, because the sink is so wide. We actually haven't even been able to try out this current set up because when we installed the Karbon the threads on the cold water supply got stripped (or maybe were already stripped) so Build.com is sending a replacement. I want to wait and see how it feels to use before making any decisions. But we do like the idea of soap dispenser, so if we can fix the problem we would like to. I really wish I had spent some time thinking about this BEFORE instead of after. :-) Unfortunately it's been too many things going on and too many decisions. My brain (and body) feel a bit fried right now!