Breton, I've had the same range for 8 years and have HATED every minute! Bane of my existence. That sucker gets marked up just boiling tea in the kettle. Can't just wipe it off -- gotta use Bar Keepers Friend and elbow grease. Then rinse, rinse, and rinse again. Now, I've always been somewhat fastidious about keeping my pots clean, always scrubbing the bottoms with Brillo with every wash. So I can't attribute the range mess on dirty pots. And I use all kinds of pots - Calphalon, All-Clad Stainless, hard anodized, Revereware -- without exception, everything leaves a stain (or some kind of shadowing around the shape of the burner). It's so annoying -- can't just cook and wipe, gotta SCRUB. The good news is we're in the midst of a remodel, including the kitchen, and they're bringing in a gas line!!! Breton, you totally have my understanding. I wish I could tell you that over the years it gets better, but it sure didn't in my experience.

Yikes - i gotta go (have my coat on, I don't know why I checked back after emailing Y about DD's dance class tomorrow). Merillat mentioned sanding sealer that is only used when sanding soft woods - it stiffens the wood fibers so you can sand smoother. Not usually used on oak. Sealcoat is a "sanding sealer" b/c it can be used that way but really I don't want you to sand the veneer much at all. I am telling you to use it (if you want) b/c I found it made the oak a little smoother w/o totally filling in the grain like a grain filler, and it is harder than poly, will make the finish more durable than poly alone w/o putting on lots of thick (multiple thin coats) poly. you thin (and clean) shellac with denatured alcohol. You can let excess dry in container and then throw it out. Rags can be thrown out (in small quantities) when thoroughly dry. Sealed in water you'd have to check with town about hazardous waste (same with leftover stain, paint). That's why I have multiple cans sitting in my garage LOL. Clean the shellac brush by pouring alcohol into clean PB jar, swishing the brush around - you can pour the cloudy shellac into your metal can with lots of water for disposal, or pour it into another container and let it evaporate. Pour more alcohol into jar, swish until clear. then wash brush in mild soap and water, hang bristles down to dry. It may dry a *little* stiff, but you should be able to soften it by flexing bristles with your hand. if they "crack" rather than flex, you've still got shellac in the brush and need to clean with alcohol again. you *can* just stain and apply the polycrylic if you want to, straight out of the can I'd do 2-3 coats (which may end up looking plasticky but you can try wiping off the last coat like I did on my island trim), if you use the wipeon stuff you'll need 6 coats minimum, and you're *supposed* to sand b/t coats to get it to stick so I'm really leary of telling you to sand that much. You can do 1 coat of regular Sealcoat over stain, sand *lightly*, then 2 coats rolled on poly (barely sand b/t coats). That *should* be enough protection - at least until you have kids and they kick their feet against the island LOL. I'll check back after 1 pm.

ptamom, florantha, fori, and trailrunner - thanks so muck for your feedback. Thanks holligator for the grout color feedback. I ended up trying to match the more beige tones in the tile to tone down the greens and yellows. I think it works. My one concern is that the sealer will make it darker. I don't think your grout looks lighter, just really great. muspic, I agree with you. I think once it is painted (later today) and the herbs are in place it will look fine. At least that is my hope. Thanks laurainlincoln. Staying strong here. It is a working kitchen, sayde. It's purpose is for serious cooking and not so serious enjoying of the cooking. It's about balance and I'm really trying to achieve that here. So here's the latest update....Finished tiling Sunday and grouting yesterday. Still have some touch ups and csulking to do today but he did it. When all was said and done he did say he was very pleased with the results. That's a very high accolade coming from him. Here's some pics! I love it! I love it so much I'm not even going to mind paint window trim today :) And I detest retailed trim painting because it's so time consuming. Thanks for all of your support. The end result was worth all of the angst. I'll post another pic when the herbs are in and it's what I hope it will be.

I’ve used Gorham Melonbud 18/10 flatware for the last 26 years. It has left TONS of gray marks on our 1) expensive Mikasa stoneware, 2) Target Threshold porcelain, and now 3) Mikasa bone china. The only surface this 18/10 flatware hasn’t destroyed is a newer set of 4 Target Threshold porcelain salad plates that I bought to replace some of the original set that broke. Got others in that style thinking I’d found the perfect match … nope, only those 4 can defend against the Melonbud. I’m giving up. It must be the flatware but that goes against everything out there that says 18/10 is the “hardest” and shouldn’t leave marks. Might switch to plastic, lol. ;0)