Well, your problems just go along with mine...I tried to post my comments and photos several times last night and they'd never load. I thought they were finally there, then this morning I checked and the post wasn't on your discussion. Thankfully, for once, I saved what I'd written and was able to post it again and it finally worked. This site is a mess sometimes.

Also, if you try to post one message right after you just posted, it will not post it, because it thinks you're trying to post the same thing twice...So if you alter the subject title, then it will post.

Anyway, thank you for all of your lovely comments! We used Douglas fir that was cut on our property, then milled locally, for all of our home's baseboard, window and door trim, etc....So that's also what's on our island. Pretty soft, so not the best for a counter, but we knew that going in, and it was, essentially, free at the time, so we weren't losing anything by trying.

I'm confused...In the post above you mentioned white marble tile by white countertops? I thought the contractor decided for you to have stainless countertops with the marble backsplash, and wood-topped island. Did you just make a mistake and mean white cabinets? If so, I stand by my opinion that it will be great. The stainless will break it up and connect with the gray in the marble, and the wood island top will warm things up nicely. Wall color will make a difference, too, if you feel that you need more depth or warmth.

I didn't know that polished nickel was any yellower than chrome. I bet it will be fine anyway. Have to be more careful about cleaning the nickel I think, as things like Barkeepers Friend can discolor it.

I do like my faucet. It's a Kohler Simplice. I just wanted a simple high arc pull-down faucet, and it's $230 price helped me like it, too! I really wanted the single control for mixing hot and cold, so not to worry about needing 2 hands free for that. I did order most of our plumbing fixtures from faucetdirect.com, though, and can tell you I was completely happy with the prices and everything we received.

Oh, I just realized that you might have noticed the prep sink faucet which is an Elkay Moda pull-down, which we also like. We got it from IraWoods.com. It was $219, I think, and they also gave us good service on nice products. But if I did it again, I'd probably get another Kohler Simplice for the prep sink, too, since it (the Simplice) has a couple more features (spray or stream option, and a pause button) for about the same price, and comes in 2 sizes.

Yay - there you are! You're absolutely right, I didn't mean to write white countertop - I meant stainless (I noticed they don't offer an edit option either!). Thank you. Yes I'd like to pick a nice punchy color for the walls/ceiling since there's no molding to separate them from each other and since there isn't enough wall space either way. I've also considered painting the West wall cupbaords (floor to ceiling, over the ENTIRE wall, and yes original) something different - like an accent wall. But that's where my imagination ends. I don't know what color would be appropriate and then it would also depend on what I did color-wise to the walls/ceiling elsewhere I suppose. I think though that I'll just keep all those cabinets white and just do something crazy for the little paintable space there is, like a deep rose color or a midnight blue or maybe a really deep warm rusty orangy color! Ooooh I'm outa control now! But I agree that if I feel the counter/backsplash area is too bland, I should stir things up a bit.

I'll look further into the polished nickel issues just cause i know there have been some complaints, but if I don't find there are too many issues I'll probably go for it. It's so beautiful and I think it would bring a lot of warmth and class to that cold stainless without clashing. There's another faucet by the same company that has just the one lever/handle (?) instead of two so that might be simpler. I like it cause it still looks "period" which is a look I'm going for due to having SO much original stuff going on in the house, including the kitchen. Translate: it's easy for me to keep things the way they are since I don't have the time/energy/creativity/imagination/confidence to throw in more modern pieces I don't think! That's part of what I love about your kitchen - that you brought in these different elements in such a nice way. Here's a link to the more simpler faucet, although I wouldn't get it in this color of course: http://www.rohlhome.com/pdf/U4702.pdf I prefer a separate sprayer, just from my own experience. These Perrin & Rowe faucets cost a LOT of money - more than I've ever spent on any faucets I've ever bought, put together (!) but I found one place that charges quite a bit less, and I have a history of having lots of problems with faucets. When I tested this one in the store (the first one) it felt so sturdy and sleek and tight and just QUALITY so I decided to go for it. It's probably the first and last time I ever get away with doing something like this. I'm no princess, much as I like to pretend I am!

Do you have any opinions on dishwashers?

Yikes - sorry I wrote so much!!

@theresse: I think the workaround when you've already made one response and need to post again fairly soon, but get rejected for having already posted, is to give your post another subject line.

It's been a while since that happened to me, and maybe the recent glitches mean that tip won't work, but worth trying.

Hadn't seen it when I posted, but plllog has a post that confirms that changing the subject line is a workaround. You can just add one character, or change it completely. It still stays in the same thread.

Well, I sure love the idea of an accent wall of cabinets...You could see a little of it in the pictures I posted on the other thread, but did you ever see my whole baking/bfast counter wall? My burgundy 'accent wall':

Dishwashers: I like our 500 Series Bosch dishwashers...Quiet, energy efficient, and get things nicely clean, but the rack arrangements aren't the best. My 'if money was no object' choice would be Miele with the cutlery rack.