I think Modern Aire's prices are comparable to most other big hoods, and I don't think they make their own blowers. We're still waiting for ours, as the salesman at the appliance store forgot to order it. I think he said that Modern Aire uses a Thermador blower, but I'm not positive. I could be speaking nonsense. And yes, they can paint in any RAL color, so I had them do Ruby Red (I think Vent-A-Hood will do RAL colors, too). It turned out a hair different than the BlueStar, but the color is so close that no one is going to notice a difference but me, and I'll forget about it soon enough.

Anna, I am still going to be using the Hanson collection of knobs and handles in ORB. The knobs and handles that I've purchased all appear to have the same finish. I would take the hardware that you have back to RH and exchange them for ones with the same finish (hopefully they would help you if you showed them your hardware). My refrigerator will also have the Hanson handles. Since the door on my rerfigerator is 46" tall and the freezer below it is 29" tall I think I will be using the 12" handle for the refrigerator and the 10" for the freezer. I was considering using the 8" handle for the freeze since it would be more to scale but found the diameter to be smaller (more like that of the 6" handle) than those of the 12" and 10" handles. My cabinets are made by Schuler ( manufactured by Medallion). They are the Freeport style (raised maple panel) and painted "vintage" morel and glazed (appear a soft cream color with glazing). I choose soapstone counters in keeping with the vintage of our house (1890 brownstone) and tumbled travertine floors with chiseled edges. The ORB hardware matches our faucet (pull down by Newport Brass) , two pendant lights, and hardware for our backdoor which is located in the kitchen. I choose the ORB finish since it has a warm old world feel and picks up the glazing in our cabinets (I also thought it would be a nice contrast to the light colored cabinets and flooring). Our backsplash is a crackled cream subway tile (taken from the advice of members on this forum). There is also an exposed brick wall in our kitchen. Once our kitchen is finally done I will be posting pictures (we have been gutting the entire house so it's been a long haul). -robin

pps - I've seen pics of your beautiful house and would trade in a heartbeat. Too many unfinished projects in mine anyway :-D shay - I painfully scrubbed this hutch with a toothbrush and wax remover (and even acetone) several times to get rid of the wax finish. That toned it down a bit but I then bleached the wood because I initially wanted the grain to show through the glazing. If I had known I'd end up using a solid paint then I would have still needed to go through the wax removing process but wouldn't have bleached the wood. I've used a commercial wood bleach (a powder you mix with water) on a pine piece before and that worked well but the hardware store was out of stock. I ended up using a homemade liquid drain cleaner solution found here: Homemade bleaching/aging solution Be sure to test a small area before you do this and wear a protective mask, gloves, etc. Also, allow plenty of drying time between removing wax/bleaching and applying a new finish.

brianadarnell, Thanks--I figured it must be that way, but I reallly didn't know for sure. If the switchplates went over the tile, it seems that they wouldn't lay flat over the tile and also the box would be too recessed behind the cover. You would think that some smart tile manufacturers would realize if they made switchplate covers to match their tile (or perhaps just their more popular tiles) they would be big sellers. Or maybe some have, and I just don't know about them yet.