Thank rmkitchen, I love the site too. When i first came across it, the prices seemed so reasonable that I was a little skeptical. But I have been quite happy with the quality, and shipping was not bad. And what I really like is that they have stuff I didn't see anywhere else. Much of it is from a company called Chehoma. I looked high and low for someone local who carries Chehoma but got nowhere. When I had to call Deco et cie with a question, I even got to use some of my high school French. I did see the wire cage fixture, the whacky one with the birds, at ABC Carpet in NYC, for more than twice what I paid. I have that one in my 8yr old DD's room, and she is in love with it. I bought and can vouch for: Suspension NIckel - mudroom, Suspenion poesie - one over each sink in my girls' bath Suspension desir - guest room Lustre voliere demi grande - DD2 bedroom Lustre brindelle 4 lumieres - over my tub, or so i thought Applique crenalieme - DS bedroom Applique josephine - guest room Applique projecteur nickel - DS bathroom I inquired in advance about which ones would work in the US. I think I only rewired the last one. It was maybe $30 to rewire. Here are some of the other sources I have used and been happy with: Il Fanale. Italian products imported by Country Gear of Southampton, NY. SImple lines but a bit unusual. I bought my kitchen and breakfast room pendants there and also fixtures for a bathroom. Prices quite reasonable. http://www.countrygearltd.com/Results.ihtml?c=94&increment=6&step=2&startnum=1&maxvalue=6&m=26 Skinflint UK - If you like the industrial look, they have really cool things. I bought some old ship bulkhead lights, french darkroom lights, real cargo lights, etc. Again, pretty good prices, and he will rewire them for the US. Do note though, that some of these items are very heavy and you may need to reinforce your ceiling to hang them. You may also find that the amount of light they give once rewired is insufficient. The prices are good value for what you are buying, IMHO, but not as inexpensive as Deco et Cie or Il fanale, above. http://www.skinflintdesign.co.uk/store/ceiling_and_wall_lights/ The last one is the budget buster, but oooh they have nice stuff. I bought two of the Chisholm Hall for our entry hall. I also am having them copy a fixture for me. http://www.urbanelectricco.com/#/Collection/By_Category/Ceiling/ PS CALI WENDY - Deco et cie has a sconce like those lights you liked that sold Here is a link that might be useful: cali wendy - sconce for you

Aokat15, my dining chairs are from Cost Plus World Market. They are the Verona Dining Chairs. I've linked the Verona collection below. Our set is the mahogany color, but I see they have it in a lighter honey color now too, which is really pretty. I feel like our set is too dark and sucks up all the light in that area. Babs, the idea of the breakfront at the end of the island was our architect's idea. He originally had presented it as a nearly ceiling-height piece, but I couldn't imagine something that high right there. So we collectively lowered it to provide a little separation between the casual dining area and the kitchen without blocking views completely. I love how it turned out. It totally blocks any mess on the island and cooktop while seated for dining, which is a great aesthetic benefit. I came across very few photos of the design, but did find one I liked very much in the book New Bungalow Kitchen. Thank you so much, Dash. I've certainly posted details in a few threads, but I am not very good at managaing where those things are. I'm happy to answer again here though. :) My cabinets are custom maple with BM Linen White finish by a local cabinetmaker and finisher. The counters are honed (and pitted) Colonial Gold. The backsplash is Crema Marfil (tumbled marble). Rachel, thank you for the incredibly kind words. They make me smile. Here is a link to our backsplash tile: http://www.cooltiles.com/cv39c.html As I mentioned above, we got the turmbled marble Crema Marfil. I believe the manufacturer is Marble Mosiacs. I also looked at the polished version, but ultimately went with the tumbled and added the color enhancer to bring out the warmth in the tile. I've seen so many gorgeous back splashes on GW, that I am always oooohing and ahhhhing over that I sometimes wonder if I should have gone with something a little more exciting. But, ultimately I like that it keeps the monochromatic scheme. If the tumbled stone comes off as "dated" down the road, I guess I can pick something new! The store we bought our granite from did the tile job for $300 including materials, so I won't feel too bad if I ever want to replace it. :) Here is a link that might be useful: Verona Dining Collection from Cost Plus

you can mix finishes successfully, and almost all the styles would work. you don't have to match the exact style of your lighting either. with lighting, you can mix and match to your heart's content. beautiful house by the way. now, how do you choose, from all this ocean of possibilities? what I did-I researched a lot, a lot, a lot of lighting, everywhere but including vintage/second hand/custom made sites...everything that caught my eye and inspired me, I saved onto one big Pinterest board. Then I narrowed them in terms of dimensions etc, and only the ones I looked at again and again..now I had a new board ..much smaller yet I still had couple hundreds of possible lights there..:) then it was still an inspiration stage yet but gave me more confidence to know what I really love even if I can't afford same exact thing-in the end, I went the route of vintage since I couldn't afford whatever I really wanted otherwise (I really wanted many things-only my dream dining fixture would be 3.5 K ..and I had to outfit the whole place since it was gut remodel and every fixture should be installed by the final inspection) I figured out that I love both modern and traditional..:) simple, and elaborate..that I love colors.. I also figured out it's very hard for me to resist things with flowers on them..:) I figured out a lot of things. then I went by a specific room..what do I need there? what do I love for there? can the lights I love, that are different, still relate to each other in that space? Do they share something in common? if yes, what? (many times the answer to that question was "me". they shared me being drawn to them.. usually it gives some reassurance about different lights working together. us being the common denominator) that was a long, long process-figuring out all the lights, in the space that didn't quite exist yet should be a bit easier in your case-you have your house..and you don't need to install your lighting at once, You need just a several fixtures..I know easier said than done but you have a lot of clues around you already. I'd start with the dining. Look at the lights, lot of lights Take into account dining light shoud actually be flattering..casting interesting shadows probably not the best idea when it comes to dining. Crystals would look gorgeous with thart brick background. Prrecisely because they're crystals. They're polished and sparkly, brick is matte and rough. They'll be great partners..like in romantic novels, you know:) but many other fixtures would work too. don't narrow your choices just yet..look at a lot, get inspired, than narrow them down. and go from there congratulations on your new house!

Make sure your island pendants don’t have too much glare for someone sitting at the island. The style of our lights (different from yours) is the same over the sink and the island. The light over the sink was fine, but the glare was horrible when sitting at the island - no problem when standing around. It never occurred to me this was a potential problem. Fortunately bulbs with covered bottoms - which I had never heard of - solved our issue.