Purplepansies Blue Louise--I love the combination of the copper brown and the blue. Florantha Starry Night--Good job finding swirly tile. I tried this exercise, but was stumped searching for swirly tile. I love the dark blue drapes. Purplepansies Approaching Thunder Storm--Oooh, I love the artwork! You did a great job of capturing the colors and the mood of the painting. I love the magma supreme granite. Honorbiltkit Vuillard--Also a beautiful painting, full of interesting details and patterns. You captured the color of the rug in the painting, and the painting you chose for your design does a great job of mimicking the painting in the painting. If that makes any sense. Palimpsest Vuillard--You also did a great job of capturing the colors of the painting, playing up the neutrals a bit compared to Honorbiltkit. The floor--is it Marmoleum?--mimics the colors of the rug. Style-wise, the table is unexpected, but I really like it in the design. Pricklypearcactus Lanadscape with Butterflies--I like the interplay of colors in your kitchen just as much as in the original painting. I just want to say how very much I've enjoyed this thread. I liked the artwork, I liked the kitchens, and I liked all the creative thinking that went into putting them together.

Ae2ga contacted me off line soliciting more substantive critique on her board. Apparently we weren't critical enough--step up, people! :) So I took her tile and design elements and did a couple boards. I thought that her underlying problem was that it is hard to use two vivid, contrasting colors in a design in balanced quantities and intensities without making it look like a college sports jersey (Go Cal Bears!). So I did one design where I let blues predominate and one where I let yellows take the lead, although a lot of the elements are the same. I focused on the color balance, and the styles of the different elements don't work together as well as I would like. It was devilishly hard finding things in the right color, let alone the right color and style. Anyway, feel free to rip these apart and let ae2ga know what you really think works and what doesn't with her tile. Floor: .....Yellow: Checkered Marmoleum in Butter and White Marble .....Blue: Daltile Micro Flecks in Moonlight Swim Cabinets: Kraftmaid square raised panel maple in Cinnamon Cabinet Hardware: Plymouth knob and Allison antique brass pull from eknobsandpulls.com Range: Bluestar in blue Counter: .....Yellow: Silestone Yellow Dream .....Blue: Silestone Blue Enjoy Tile: Ae2ga's tile Rangehood: Frigidaire stainless chimney hood Paint: Benjamin Moore Barely Yellow Rug: .....Yellow: Blue oriental rug from therugfactory.com .....Blue: Fronter Moroccan ivory & yellow hand-woven wool rug from Zinc Door Table: From ae2ga's pic, sorry for the loss of resolution Chairs: Furniture Classics English country ladderback side chair from homefurnitureshowroom.com (chosen to resemble ae2ga's, which lost too much resolution to use) Art: Bridge in City Park by Charles Woodward Hutson, ca 1910-1920, from 1stDibs.com Frame: .....Yellow: Paint swatch of Color Guild Galaxy Blue from myperfectcolor.com .....Blue: Paint swatch of Benjamin Moore Midnight Navy from myperfectcolor.com Lighting: .....Yellow: Ikat batik drum pendant from ShadesofLight.com .....Blue: All yellow giclee pendant chandelier from eurostylelighting.com (this is the wrong yellow and wrong style, but I couldn't find anything that really worked)

The first thing that came to mind is a pendant a longtime friend and local jeweler created for me. My DH & I were high school sweethearts and we became engaged during college. To buy me a ring, he worked a side job while attending classes and doing an internship. It was a gold band with a 1/4 ct. diamond in a simple raised setting. I was thrilled with it, but he regretted the stone was small. On our 25th anniversary he surprised me with a new ring. I was touched, but had such a sentimental attachment to the one I'd worn for decades that he had this pendant made - the circle is my original ring. It represents my design philosophy because it's a simple, practical piece made of fine materials that has a personal attachment or connection. I photographed it on an unembellished black cashmere sweater (which also reflects what I'm drawn to - style/color). The ring is yellow gold but the bail and diamond setting was done in white gold, so it works whether I'm wearing gold or silver jewelry. It's casual enough to wear with a t-shirt, but can look elegant with a velvet dress. This piece isn't showy and wouldn't elicit "Wows" but it is unique and special to me. Same can be said about my homes and how I've chosen to furnish and decorate them.

Option 1 is a beautiful cabinet and I also find the contrast of the two finishes interesting rather than bothersome. Matchy matchy is out these days, but beyond that I just feel the two go together very well. My only worry would be the handles, and whether they're the kind where you snag everything on the sharp corners.