Hi BigDogLover, I'll be sure to get a picture to you at some point when it's done. I'm really excited for how well it'll turn out (Lord willing). The whole thing about pine being soft is an over-generalization. What I've been told is that while we take all species of wood (and there are tons - to name a few of the most popular: white oak, red oak, walnut, ash, beech, maple, cypress, white pine, yellow pine, alder, elm, cherry, hickory, birch, teak, mahogany, cedar, ETC.) and split all those many species into only two categories - hardwoods and softwoods - that it's not nearly so black-and-white; that is to say, there is a much more gradient scale between hard and soft. There are several different species of pine out there, some of which are quite hard -- and southern yellow pine (often referred to as just "yellow pine" or "southern pine") is one of the hard ones (it's over twice as hard as eastern white pine, which is what most people are picturing in their mind when thinking of easily-dented "soft pine"). When people start poo-pooing pine, I tell them what I just told you, and I remind them that the entire framing structure of a house is pine, and pine has been used for flooring and exterior siding and lots of other uses for centuries, and holds up very very well (if maintained properly, which applies to almost any wood). The floors in my house, which was built in 1938, are southern yellow pine (it was at that time, and still is now, very abundant and thus affordable), have never been refinished or really even maintained, and they look great. If I look half this good when I'm 70, it'll be worth drinking to. By "hack traditional", I'm referring to a pet peeve of mine whereby fast-talking sharp-accent rich folks from New York and New Jersey and Michigan and the like, move here to the South - and then, with zero regard to tradition or rural identity or historical integrity - they build a huge modern house that clashes with all the antebellum and mill-era homes that make up the traditional Southern landscape - and they think it's "Southern" because it has a wraparound porch. I'm talking about the people that weren't born or raised here by parents born and raised here - the people who have no real understanding of the fact that this is a region of the larger nation which has its own cultural and architectural identity which ought to be faithfully preserved. The people who see the South simply as a warm, relaxed, "country" sort of place to be exploited and built-up. I find it offensively condescending that rather than seeing me and where I come from as a distinct culture that ought to be respected, that we're viewed as a commodity that can be marketed (I'm picturing that "Luzianne authentic Southern iced tea" TV commercial with the disembodied ceiling fans, and Cracker Barrel, and my blood's about to boil). People don't seem to grasp that everyone with a high-stress job in some dirty city up north wants to come to the warm rural South to relax out in the country - but if enough people do that, you don't have a "country" any more...rural becomes suburbia really quickly, and that destroys the character and feel of the place, not to mention drags along the noise and the crime and the filth and the various other associated problems, and drives up our tax rates, etc. I've seen a tobacco field outside my front door for decades, and I'd like not to see it poured over with concrete and some "planned community" of big 2- and 3-story vinyl-clad cookie-cutter houses with the wide sidewalks and the manicured shrubbery and the BMW and Mercedes SUVs in the driveway, pop up. ANYHOW, sorry for going off on a diatribe for that long. It's a touchy subject for me. My family fought and died here, and I have a heritage and a connection that I deeply care about, and I stiffly resent the encroachment of rich non-Southerners and their big ugly greedy houses and their reprehensible lifestyles. They are to me what illegal Mexican immigrants are to Mr. Lou Dobbs. And in another meaning, when I say "hack traditional" - speaking purely in the architectural sense - I'm talking about folks who claim to want a "Southern traditional" or "Southern country" home - and yet they put in double-pane vinyl or aluminum-clad windows with the fake divided lites, and pre-finished hardwood flooring, and rocker switches, and vinyl siding, and hollow- or engineered-core or MDF doors, and a popcorn ceiling, and computerized kitchen appliances, and faux paint finishes on the walls, and new furniture with a "distressed" (read: fake) finish, and foam or no door and window casing, and roofing that isn't either 3-tab asphalt singles or 5v-crimp metal, and a walk-in pantry with a glass-panel door that has the word "pantry" etched on the glass with a picture of a wheat sheaf, etc. etc. etc. - I could list dozens more examples - there is a difference between real and pretend, between genuine and fake. When I say "traditional", I actually mean it. Not new mass-produced cheap garbage made artificially to look old, and modern architectural details which are in no way traditional or uniquely-Southern. I'm going to shut up about this now before I pop my aorta. Back to the original topic: yellow pine makes an excellent floor. And if you put the right type of finish on it, it has a beautifully warm glow to it and will hold up very well to normal usage (i.e. not doing the can-can on it while wearing steel-spiked golf shoes) -FaSoLa

LakeGirl, the cabinets read ~soft~? Look at the picture with the library ladder. The sink and the fish platter are stark white. You can definitely see the difference between the cabinet color and the sink color. Can you see how the sink makes the counter look really gray and the wall look really yellow? The Creamy White just sort of softens the hues. So, I'm not sure how to answer your question. Yes, but no, not really. They mainly just look old in a well cared for sort of way. Another thing I will say about the creamy white as a trim color is that it seems to work with antiques and oriental rugs better than a stark white would. Hobokenkitchen, I love the honed quartzite. It is absolutely bulletproof. I didn't want any shiny surfaces, and to me the whites in the stone came out more when it ws honed. The honed Virginia Mist on the island is a little more tempermental. If you lay a stick of butter on it to soften, you will have a darker spot the shape of the stick of butter. It sops up oil. However, having had a few big parties over the holidays, with gravy, flaming baked alaskas, and whiskey sours christening it, all stains just become part of the story. A good scrub with a dishsoap and a scrubby sponge mellows the marks. For those hankering after a library ladder.My cabinet maker (Gary Luke at The Town Carpenter) made the ladder for me. He bought the hardware kit from the outfit linked below and used my flooring. He made sure to get an adjustable roller connection at the top, because the height needed for the bookshelf was different than the height neeeded to clear the counters on the lower cabinet. Here is a link that might be useful: rolling library ladder

plllog-- don't worry about overstepping-- any advice is good advice. I am coming into this only knowing how to rip down wallpaper and paint (which will come in handy), but that is a pretty short list of remodeling skills considering the undertaking at hand! I appreciate the question about the cooktop-- I was considering a down draft (I realize they are not as efficient as a hood, but a hood isn't an option). The floor joists are exposed underneath in the basement, so I am not sure what is technically involved with running the downdraft vent, but I don't think it will be too hard. (I hope.) I also agree with the short wall-- I have been thinking about it, and I agree that it would be a good idea to extend out the wall a couple feet there so that the countertops and cabinets have a logical end point and it is closer to what it originally looked like. I will wait on the trim until I find something that matches. Thank you ajpl and pickles--I am excited to look at the subfloors. This was something I didn't even think was a possiblity. (p.s. I really liked your kitchen, pickles) As for the vinyl tile removal-- I read that if it is done with the floor wet and you pop off the tiles with a tool that has a huge scraper attached to a long handle (not sure what this tool is called), that you can minimize and asbestos in the air-- then double bag and find a suitable landfill. Some people have told me to just install a wood floor over the vinyl tiles, but I don't know what that does to the baseboard trim. I read that the companies that do this charge an arm and a leg because of the repeated- exposure insurance they buy for their employees. Anyone have thoughts on this? Cleo, I have thought a lot about cork, and it one time was going to go with it, but I have read that it is a little fragile (needs to be sealed a lot and often?)and prone to fading. Also, it seemed like every pattern I liked was pretty expensive. Also, alittle OT, but if soapstone is too expensive, does anyone know anything about stained concrete countertops? Thank again, everyone :)

Thank you all SO MUCH for your input! I've decided to go with the blue bathroom... let's just hope mine turns out as lovely as the one in my inspiration photo. I've decided to use Fireclay Tile's Mayan Blue: https://www.fireclaytile.com/tile/colors/detail/mayan-blue/ It is just gorgeous! I'm also going to take lukkiirish's advice to add a few white pencil lines to ease the transition from the tile to the painted wall. Also, like positively_patty mentioned I will be on the lookout for a coordinating rug and/or curtains to pull it all together. It will be a few months until we're finished but I'll be sure to come back to post pictures. I can't thank you all enough for your encouragement!