Thanks everyone for the encouragement and comments. Lisalists2000: I guess I'd say our style (if we have one) is eclectic with Southwest accents. Does that make sense? The cabinets are staying pretty much as they are, but are getting refinished to restore the red oak look - they've yellowed quite a bit. Biochem101: Bengals *are* different from any other cat that I've ever had. Much more active, and when they get a mind to, much more destructive. Very loving, and a lot of fun, though. With that, here's yesterday's progress. This shows the framing for extending out the sofit above the refrigerator. The original sofit didn't come out far enough, and the Sub Zero never looked quite right. We're rebuilding its enclosure (and it will be a new BI-36 all fridge). From Kitchen Remodel The tile backsplash is gone. We're replacing it with some cool 6x6 copper glass tiles that we found on closeout. There will be a deco band above the first row of tiles. From Kitchen Remodel We also have some large oak boards that form part of our stair rails that needed refinishing. The cabinet guy took those yesterday. From Kitchen Remodel Some more suprises today, but nothing that can't be handled. It seems as though the crew is making decent progress, but I was only planning to work from home 2 days this week, and so far I've been home every day. Of course, *I'm* getting all of my work done...

I do have a Karbon. Wall-mounted. Love it. I looked all over for a soap dispenser that wouldn't argue with the Karbon. We just put this one in. It looks good, but its operation seems to be to be a bit stiff. This saves on soap though. :) My last soap dispenser gushed at the slightest pressure. Sorry but I still don't have a working camera to show you how it looks with the Karbon. :( rc Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler K1995 soap dispenser

I want to thank everyone for their beautiful pictures. I picked up my tile and now I have to choose the grout. In my lighting the tiles are a little more gray than at my neighbor's with their lighting but I know once I pick out a grout, they will look nice after seeing all your beautiful kitchens. Willtv, I love your dramatic large gorgeous dark tiles that are perfect for your black and white kitchen and the grout color is a very good choice. Cherigw, your Spanish tile is looks nice with the diagonal smaller tile in the middle of four tiles every so often. Honeychurch, I love your tiles with their beautiful coloring and the neutral gray grout colors goes so nice with your tiles. Shar-az, I love your tiles and thanks for letting me know they are 20" X 20" with a 1/8th grout line that is perfect for those tiles. I love the color of your grout also. Katsmah,I love your tiles and the pattern you chose so much with that perfect color Beach grout. That is the pattern that I wanted to do on my floor initially until I saw these discontinued tiles and decided they were nice and I would use them and live without the pattern since my kitchen is so small. KayceeFL, Your tiles look great with your stainless steel appliances and the color grout goes nicely. Daicey, I really love the layout of your tiles and the coloring with such a perfect match with the grout. It is making me feel happier since my tiles ended up being a little more gray than I wanted due to the lighting in my kitchen but seeing your tiles, I see that gray can be beautiful. I have not yet chosen the grout for my tiles or decided if they will stay lined up square or with a different pattern so if anyone has any other pictures to share, that will be welcomed. Thank you again. I am glad I went with the rectified tile this time, since I am not great at cleaning so for me the thinner grout line will be better. The installer I was going to use, I may hire him to do other projects in my home since he does a great job installing closets. His reply in email today for the store to help me out with the grout and thinset since he hasn't done too many tile jobs has me wanting to interview some installers and see what they think between a 1/16th or a 1/18th grout line. The tiles I have in my foyer have the fancier edge so I have a 3/16th grout line there but for my kitchen, I want slimmer since I feel rectified tiles in the 18 X 18 size will look nice in a skinny grout line. Thank you again! More pictures are always welcome.

I like the tile brick floor. I get tired of seeing cookie cutter floors and white cabinets. You didn't mess up. Don't give up on finding a backsplash. I must of went through a dz samples before i found "the one". Luckily I live near a tile store where I could buy one tile and return it until I found what I liked. You might find it hard to find a white that matches the white counters. I would look at light or medium solid gray large subway tiles and use matching grout. I have the 4 inch also with tile above and boy am I glad I do. It really saves on cleaning on grout and caulking.