Hi overlyanxious - yes, I ordered the tile last weekend! I posted in a separate thread "OMG! I ordered the tile!" :-) Ordered the late-breaking Ilva Pietre Travertine in Bianco. Color's a little lighter than I really wanted, but the next shade down was too dark - I really wanted something in the middle! But it's going to look great with the random brick mixed travertine border I ordered. *And* with my cool Asian-influenced light fixture. See the other thread for details! For the completeness of this thread, I'll just mention that my store also had the other Ilva tiles blondelle mentioned: the Crema Marfil, and the Andes Traful. Both are beautiful, but the Andes had too much gray in it for me - I already knew from some of the Daltile samples that I didn't like gray. And the Crema Marfil - I actually don't remember what I thought of it, just that I didn't like it as much as the Pietre Travertine. Don't know much about the upkeep of real travertine, just that it needs to be sealed from time to time, and I had no confidence in my ability to not procrastinate doing it. There are a lot of threads here on that subject - maybe just search for travertine. Sigh about the Daltile. They told me in the Daltile showroom that it was discontinued, not just out of stock; I actually emailed Daltile customer service asking about it and they never got back to me. Maybe it's just as well. My reno is starting on 9/29, so depending when in October the Dal would have been available, it might have been (probably would have been) too late. Here is a link that might be useful: OMG! I ordered the tile!

HELP! I plan to have our pool replastered here in Houston, TX. I've had 5 different pool contractors come out and every one seems to have their own favorite plastering product. Choices are: 1)SGM's Diamond Brite, 2)3M's ColorQuartz and 3)Pebble Tec. Which one would you choose? My key requirement is longevity and low maintenance using normal chemicals for balancing pool. Which product would keep it's color and lusture longer? Thanks in advance for your help/advice. Korf

Espresso wasn't one of the ones they sampled on the floor...but they did have one they called "coffee brown" which was a little too "brown"...it didn't have as much depth to it. I will ask about the espresso, though! I am also going to ask about "popping" the wood...that sounds very interesting! Right now, I am leaning toward 75% Jacobean, 25% Walnut. Would love to see pics of anyone's stain! Oh, and yes, I have heard that the dark stains show everything...I am ok with that...I had provincial stain on my old floors with a high gloss finish and that was also a nightmare. I have become quite adept at wielding a fierce dry swiffer! ;)

We did a darker cherry cabinet with crema Bordeaux perimeter cabinets and a black island (Nordic antique). The appliances were stainless. We used tumbled travertine as the backsplash, but substituted about 40 2x2s with glass tiles. We loved the combination and I think it would work for you too (our floors were medium bamboo). Here's a picture -