suzannesl - I saw that picture on the website too and that was part of the reason I was worried about it being dark. I guess since I have them IRL, I should stop worrying about that. I have noticed that there are some little bubbles in the 'frosting' of the glass and that does cause me some concern. My contractor did ask me to decide what I wanted to do, but I'm thinking that he just wanted to know that now to take into account how much labor to charge for the estimate. I was planning to tile behind the hood, so I am guessing that I'll need to know sooner rather than later so that they can get it put up back there. As far as the floors go - I've already had two plumbing issues that didn't cause problems for my tile floors, but did cause the basement ceiling to be replaced. It was damaged several months later and will be replaced again with the reno when they run the gas lines anyway. Pricey problems and I worry about it. My contractor told me that he has constant insurance claims after power outages for people that don't think to empty the ice tray or silly things like that. Sounds like me... But they are so beautiful. remodelfla - do you know if those tiles are from Shaw? Because they have a clear version of the tile and it looks completely identical to what you have! Funny! Thanks for the tile source! I'm going to order several samples from there. Can't hurt! :)

Thanks all. We literally layed out all the tile last night. We layed out the insert also and glad we did. We discovered that it caused the first row of tile to be layed a certain way so that the staggered look could flow properly. We also decided to start the staggered look at the foyer, horizontal to the door. Where the foyer turns we will lay a decorative strip to divide where the two patterns meet. Then we will start the stagger at the garage door, also horizontal. When you stand at the T in the hall/foyer you can see the horizontal staggered pattern at both doorways. By having the stagger in hall be at the turn in foyer rather than ending at the T, it allows the hall to look bigger. Having the transitional decorative strip at the T seemed to chop the hall off too much. From way up on the stairs looking down at the tile, the strip looks good. The bath and laundry will now have a staggered look rather than a diamond angle. I will post pics when done. Magothyrivergirl- Hope you read my post in fireplaces about the paint issue I had with KozyHeat. It was a nightmare that at least got resolved. Considering a granite tile fell off wall onto the back of my head, resulting in several staples- ouch!- I was not pleased to come across this paint issue. But in the end it looks really nice. I will post pics of that once I get he floors all done.

I just wanted to say that that tile is really spectacular. I'm almost having a bit of tile envy and I'm not even finished with my reno yet ;) That would have been SO nice behind my hood fan ... fortunately I still love the one I have! I was just wondering if you used a lighter coloured grout if that might be enough to lighten it up for you? Something close to the same as the white tiles? Might be a bit hard to keep clean, but it might be OK on a fireplace instead of a messy backsplash, depends on what sort of messes might be acquired on the fireplace in YOUR kitchen (sorry, if you've posted about layouts and such I'm just not familiar with it). Just a thought. Maybe you can put some grout on your sample to see if that would do it for you? Or maybe your supplier has a photo of it installed? Or at very least maybe looking at it with something white underneath the mesh? Just a thought. Good luck with your search for the perfect tile! mmhmm

Thank you for the feedback! CK--to your point, what I am hoping to do is have the space feel like a unified space when the glass doors are all open. I do think that will make the space feel more like one large room! (I am a native Atantan who is accustomed to looking at the beautiful outdoors from inside my air conditioned house during the summer because I can't stand the heat, humidity, and bugs! It's a treat to go to No California where it drops to the low 50s at night, even in July/Aug and you can open your doors and windows and there's a BREEZE!!! LOL Norcal--I hear ya! These floors are in really bad shape (camera doesn't show it). But the refinisher I've had look at them promises they will look brand new. He will need to replace about 10% of the planks that beyond hope (water leaks, etc). He sanded a patch and put down some test colors. It is amazing how different that little area looks. I really don't like ripping out good hardwood... Remodelfla--Thank you for your comments! I think your suggestion is a good one--to find a matching wood tile (not sure we can do concrete since the deck is slighlty elevated off the ground??(But it would be less expensive!) Raee-- we bought this house two years ago, and I have really fallen in love with its mid-century style. We are trying to update the house and honor it's original design, while at the same time bringing electrical, plumbing, etc. up to current standards. Thanks again for your help!