i like what fern4 posted. it makes the subway tile a little more interesting. i still stand by my basketweave!!!! i think you need to decide how unique you want to make your kitchen. the subway tile (or marble subways which would be nice) will certainly look great and will be the classic white kitchen. if you want that look, than go for the subways. i liked the basketweave because it is still traditional but it is something you don't see often. i also don't think it will be too busy.....mine isnt' busy at all and it is not busier than the minibricks or glass mosaics out there. have you seen vic's kitchen..... white cabinets, costa esmerelda countertops (same as my kitchen) but she chose a terracotta patterned tile. i love how it makes her kitchen "hers"...... and it looks totally different than mine. i would say decide what look you are going for, and then make your decision, because all of the ideas sound great....it's just what you want the feel to be.....

Well, here they are. Yuck, everything still looks so messy. The kids were at the table and lounging on the couch. They all scrambled when they saw the camera. We relocated the kitchen into what was the toy room, so that white dresser is full of toys for now. Pub table is temporary. It will go in game room (behind cooktop wall). Facing West Facing East SW side North side (this was phase II almost ready for cabinets) South South North (it is not 4:00; clock battery is dead) This is morning light North East East again different time of day My Backsplash You can really see how the paint changes with the lighting. I do have flourescent bulbs and at night there will be a slight green hue to the paint, but I did not want a peachy hue. I need to do something with the ceiling. Small crown inside the trays? Painted or stained? Different color completely? I am okay repainting the ceiling. Thank you all so much. Once paint is finished, I'll be back with decorating help ;>D !!

Sprengle-when I looked at the topknob website I also couldn't find the knob-but when I googled it I found it at the website below with Homeclick. THe picture is not as shiny as the real deal. http://www.homeclick.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=41383&chnl=cse&ven=googlebase&cat=Hardware%3ACabinet%20Hardware&brnd=Top%20Knobs&itm=41383M201%7CContessa%20Knob%20-%20Old%20English%2C%201-1%2F4''%20-%20M201&CAWELAID=167014875http://www.homeclick.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=41383&chnl=cse&ven=googlebase&cat=Hardware%3ACabinet%20Hardware&brnd=Top%20Knobs&itm=41383M201%7CContessa%20Knob%20-%20Old%20English%2C%201-1%2F4''%20-%20M201&CAWELAID=167014875

Jen, your oven thermostat can be recalibrated or perhaps even replaced, most definitely! IIRC you live relatively close to an urban area - try calling around to appliance repair companies to ask who in your area works on old stoves and doesn't just say to throw them out. Emphasize its sentimental value - if you don't object to a "little white lie" you could say you inherited it from Grandma or something. (Well, you inherited it from someone's grandma anyway, when you bought the house! Right? :-)) You might also want to check out The Old Appliance Club, which rebuilds thermostats and locates replacement parts, although you'll still need a local person to actually put it in. I have the hots for Mary Lu's sink. Big time. When we were starving college students, DH and I once rented part of an 1800s farmhouse where the entirety of the kitchen equipment was a freestanding double-drainboard sink almost exactly like Mary Lu's, a stove that made AuntJen's look ultramodern :-) a somewhat random old refrigerator that sounded like a jet engine, and a built-in hutch about 3' wide. That was all. No cabinets, no counters. We prepared everything on the kitchen table and stored the dry groceries on bookshelves in the living room! Oh, and the bathroom consisted of a toilet in the corner of the kitchen. Just standing there in the corner of the kitchen. LOL The week before we moved in the landlord boxed it in and added an RV-sized shower, which is all that would fit. The lady who had the apartment before us had lived there for over fifty years and was perfectly content to wash with her old pitcher and bowl, so landlord wasn't going to go fooling around in there. (I think she came with the house when he bought it!) She had decorated the apartment (except for the kitchen, which was from somewhere around 1900-1910) in 1940 and it was virtually untouched when she died in 1994 and we moved in.