glennsfc, we are on a timeline to get the kitchen done.... so I didn't push for popping of the rays with danish oil, or even water popping. Gotta draw the line somewhere! This flooring guy seems to know his stuff. Thanks peytonroad! Your pics are wonderful ---and your floors -WOW! We did a sample of the jacobbean and it was beautiful, but a little too brown for the cherry w/ dark stain cabs. So after looking at what others have used, we did a sample with 50-50 ebony and red mahogany, and finally went with a mix of 75% red mahogany, 25% ebony. It was just enough black to take the pink undertone out of the red mahogany. So the floors were stained today, and I love the 'custom' shade. It's perfect with the dark cherry cabs!

Oh wow, thank you all SO much for your replies! You are wonderful and have given us lots to consider! remodelfla - You know, we never thought of laminate! Thanks for the suggestion! I took a peek online and there are some pretty cool soapstone looks, but I'm concerned about the seams and the "green" factor (we're trying to make our home as low VOC as possible without going broke). Hmmm... johnliu - My DH likes your vote! That is pretty much exactly what he wants to do - Give it a shot, and scrap it and go with wood if it doesn't turn out right. I had no idea that Ikea was having issues with their wood countertops - we need to look into that (eek). And I completely understand what you mean about granite not fitting a cottage look. Thanks for your reply! dianalo - Thanks for your butcher block vote! sparklekitty - (Cute name!) Thanks for your suggestions! Yeah, the more I look at the photos, the more I agree that the dark counters give the nicest contrast. I'm thinking that we should go this route one way or another. ellendi - I would love a matte finish dark granite like Jet Mist. A terrific suggestion, thank you! For a while I had my heart set on Nordic Black granite in an antique finish (which I learned about through this forum). I absolutely love the look and low maintenance, but unfortunately, it seems to be pretty pricey. :( Is there any chance that the Jet Mist would be $30ish a sq ft? I don't want to get my hopes up, but I'll look into it. cleo_2007 - Wow! What a creative idea and gorgeous kitchen (with exactly the look we love)! Thank you!! Staining the wood dark...inexpensive, cottagy and contrast. Verrrry interesting. We will definitely need to explore this idea further! One of my goals for the house is to keep it as low VOC and non toxic as possible. I'll do some research on the India Ink. Waterlox, while awesome, I think is pretty high in VOCs. (My nose has been off the charts sensitive ever since I got preggo with our now 17 month old.) But - maybe there is a low/no VOC food safe Waterlox alternative. ? I'm excited to look into this more. boxerpups - Yes, the India Ink idea is definitely growing on me! I was concerned about the maintenance for the concrete as well. I'm really hoping that I can find a durable yet no VOC alternative to the Waterlox and we just might be in business! I suppose one down side would be that a scratch would reveal the lighter wood underneath, right, and it would probably require at least re-sealing annually? But, granite needs to be resealed, and soapstone oiled (for the dark look) - so I could probably talk DH into that. Very exciting, indeed! Thanks for your reply! blfenton - Thanks for your dark wood vote! I didn't think of trying other places aside from Ikea for the wood - we'll have to look into that! Great suggestion - thank you! dawn8b - You have marvelous taste! ;) I'm glad that you love it too! It's funny, I bought the shades to try and make it look more casual - I should have saved our pennies and left them off, lol. Oh well! It is beautiful either way. Thanks for your reply! sadiebrooklyn - Another matte, dark contrast vote. Thank you! And thanks for your compliment on the green! We did use it in the kitchen in our last house, and I adored it. It is the one color that we are using again. (It makes me feel like a little bit of our first home traveled with us.) We renovated our last house for sale and I was sad that we didn't get to enjoy the new kitchen for very long, but, I am very excited about all of these ideas for our "forever home's" kitchen. I'm off to research how to create a dark wood, budget and eco friendly countertop in our kitchen! But please feel free to keep those suggestions coming! Thank you all, again!! :)

Just to follow up, Kilim Beige on the walls with Alabaster trim/ceiling looks great in the new house! I love the colors with the dark walnut doors/cabinets and bronze fixtures. They just hooked up electrical so it looks nice with artificial light as well. Sometimes I regret not looking into SW Pavilion Beige, but I don't know why I do that to myself...what's done is done and I should be so relieved that Kilim Beige looks great! When they first painted I thought I saw peach undertones and I panicked. But I did not see that again. It is definitely warm, but I can't detect any real undertones. Flooring isn't in yet, so I'm curious to see how the color will change. patty_cakes, you wrote in a previous post above: "As for the color/colors, just a very pleasant, warm tan that has a beautiful candlelight hue in the evening. Good luck. ;o)" I thought of your comment when we saw the house for the first time last night with artificial light...kilim beige does have that beautiful candlelight hue in the evening! I will post pics soon. Thanks again to everyone, I appreciate your input and advice!

I hear ya D2G, we all have plenty of those missed opportunities in our homes. I know I have tons! It certainly doesn't make your home any less beautiful! However, I would not draw attention to it with a FP screen, except maybe one of those fold over types Flo mentioned-they tend to stand higher. I also wouldn't buy anything else for the mantle. You don't need to match the art, and you have so many lovely things. I would sooner see your beautiful clock and candelabras, though not "perfect," because they are a piece of your story.