Moccasinlanding, thank you - I wondered if I could just take a picture of it. Now, however, the deadline has passed and I'VE DECIDED WHAT I'M DOING. Whew! Actually I didn't decide. I told my contractor who showed up this morning that I CAN'T DECIDE and am going completely crazy out of my head bonkers not being able to decide between stainless w/ marble subway backsplash or soapstone w/ beige subway backsplash. So I told him to decide for me and I'd be happy either way (and if not happy, it would be default tell me that I really wanted the other thing)! So HE chose stainless w/ marble. He said black counters are too ubiquitous these days, and dark (potentially depressing), and that we can add more warmth by replacing our kitchen island top with butcher block (it's currently stainless). To answer your question about our floors, they're wood. Yesterday I found an interesting online piece about a woman's original 1912 or 1913 kitchen - showing pictures - having one counter w/ steel on it. It appears to me to be zinc or pewter, and it was in a pantry-type room that had U-shaped counters, the connecting counter being the metal one. The other two were made of old dark wood. Stainless was invented in 1913 (amazing how many things were - including refrigerators!) and so I feel good enough about doing a period kitchen in stainless as long as all else looks old-fashioned for the most part. And as long as I can contrast w/ lots of warmth in other ways - particularly re. wood. The marble should help w/ that too I hope. Can you tell I'm trying to convince not just you guys but myself, too? ;) Here's the link that shows that woman's original 1913 kitchen (I can't help but feel sad that she changed it - and also some of her choices - but to each her own. Plus she wrote that it was meant to be a temporary fix only): http://www.fromtimespast.com/RestorationJournalTheKitchen.htm Third pic down shows the metal which you can see much better if you use your computer to zoom in on it.

Blue I'm going to print this and put it on the door of my house. People walk in after hearing "mosaic marble rug...crocodile tile...stainless steel and granite...26 different knobs in the kitchen...and hand done plaster" and I can see them bracing themselfs for horror. (I'll cut out the part about your dissent on my vote though :oP You might give my GC ideas) heh heh Red, I'm curious...have you laid out a herringbone with those tiles. That would be fun and still carry over the traditional.... I've made quilts in the tumbling block (similar to the raking stretcher run you like) so I am also infusing my opinion of that pattern on this question. I like the tumbling blocks on a quilt, it's fun and quirky, and on a huge surface (big square) it looks great. I don't however like it on a pillow unless done in tiny pieces because you don't really get the feel of the tumble without a large rectangular expanse of the pattern. I see the same issue with your walls. If you had an open wall or were tiling up to a ceiling with a glass hood, you could get the feel of the pattern more because it would be easier for your eye to take it in. But you know...I bet either way you go...it's going to be gorgeous. THe tile is lovely, and your kitchen is yummy. You make me want to do a white kitchen now :oP ANd I'm running out of kitchens to do!!

I'm not sure how I came across this post, I think it was displayed on the right side and I clicked on it being intrigued by the tile making. I was at one time interested in working with papercrete and hypertufa. But after enlisting my brother, who wasn't as enthusiastic, and my niece, who poured cement down my laundry room sink, which original to the house had lasted 70 years, and ruining three blenders, my interest waned. True to form, if I come upon difficulty in a project, I think of it as a sign for me not to continue. And really, after all these years of trying various crafts that result in crap, I should know better. I also should have known better than to ask my brother, who always says it can't be done to any of my unique design ideas. And I should have known better than to ask my niece, who once stayed up all night before having to drive to LA for an art show, cutting mat after mat after measuring once, twice, sometimes ten times, but always coming out with the wrong size. I think we both have math dyslexia. I should video us trying anything crafty to see where we go wrong. I think both of us having ADHD might have something to do with it. Sorry for the backstory and run on sentences. So, I just wanted to see if you continued with your venture. And to say sorry for whatever tragedy occurred to cause you to have to move to Florida. Not that there is anything wrong with Florida, but it isn't Panama. Which is one of my favorite places in the western hemisphere. I hope no one is upset that I brought up a seven year old post.

I appreciate everyone trying to help me out to make sure we are safe but your dimensions are all off. I had mentioned some in an earlier post but perhaps you missed them. Math doesn't lie, but your brain can deceive you with size perception (sorry I am a vision scientist so I had to throw that in). The center of the arch is in fact 66" from the floor. I measured it. I am not making it up. We do have 9' ceilings which is why maybe your perception of the size is fooling you. Also the cabinets are not standard. They are completely custom, not just the faces but the actual boxes too. They are higher than 18" above the counter- the wood on the side of the hood that protrudes below the cabinets is at 18" and as you can see in the pic, the cabinets are above that by a few more inches). Also the cabinets aren't standard depth, they are 15", which again might be throwing the perception of the size off. I am pretty tall and when I lean forward over the cooktop, my head does not hit the hood at all. I don't know how hoods and measurements work but the wood casing around the hood that you see is not over any burners at all (so even the lowest areas of the arch that are closer to 64" are in front of the cooktop and not over it). The actual inside of the hood, in the area right above all of the burners, has a clearance that is a bit over 66". The house is new construction so it did have many inspections, and passed them all. I am hoping this is all proper and safe now that the dimensions are clarified. We worked with a kitchen designer through the custom cabinet builder. We did not do the backsplash at the time as we were rushing to move in by a certain date and had to focus on other things (the whole house was custom so we literally had to pick every thing). We are now hoping to finish that off and the fireplace stone. The house has been a long process :) Thanks for all of your help and input. And in other news, I spoke to the tile store and they do have our tile in bullnose on the short side, and in bullnose on the short and long side (in case we need to have some of the upper edge exposed too). Hooray! Once I get the tile up and finally add a little decor I will post a reveal.