Dear Polar Princess, I am happy to read of your recent survivorship and a getting new lease on life. I think your oak cabinets look very well made and can be a star with some new accessories. Oak is a timeless, beautiful wood. Here are the changes I would try for minimal cost: 1) As has been mentioned numerous times: remove the stenciling & ivy to freshen the look. 2) If you can easily remove the light bridge over the sink and add molding to the top of the 2 cabinets where it connected, that will also modernize the look, as previous poster suggested, for not much money. 3) Backsplash: Provide Maximum sizzle and splash, which will transform the kitchen with a shimmering glass tile mosaic. See link below as example. Your area is not big, so you could pull this off for only $200 to $250 in materials. 4) Definitely bring in the brown leather bar stools you like or even something very modern in style as a contrast. 5) Counter tops: white laminate is not necessarily bad. In fact, if you add a shimmering glass backsplash that is a nice counterpoint to the white counters, you may find they are now more pleasing to you, without going to the expense of adding granite. You already know how easy to maintain your laminate counters are. You might jazz them up with some interesting place mats or update your centerpiece to be more in keeping with the brown leather & mosaics. 6) Window valence: maybe replace the lace look with something more tailored to complement the new backsplash and stools. 7) Wall paint: See how the backsplash changes the look and decide if you want to add wall color or not. 8) If you still yearn for SS appliances, check into changing out the front panels of the frig and dishwasher with SS. Don't think that is possible with the stove. I would really keep the bisque because they will look nice with the new backsplash as well. The link is from a larger website with many different choices of mosaic color combinations. The featured one is Anima because I think it would complement your while/bisque and oak and brown leather. Also check out several of the Spectralight (with and without El Dorado), Shimmerfly (one is Honey Pearl)and others which might complement your adjacent room colors. Good luck with all your decisions. We celebrate that you are here to make them! Anna Lee F Here is a link that might be useful: Glass tile backsplash

We must be typing in sync because your posts keep coming up before mine but I don't see them til after I hit the ole SUBMIT button. You're right, I did misunderstand your first message. I like your idea of switching the soap/faucet and then angling the faucet 45 degrees - clever! As long as the faucet can still function that way I think it would work (and look) great. RE: "I know I shouldn't let the minor details get to me at this late in the game." ... "Minor", what's that??? LOL, if I could only tell you how many times I have received what looks like the roll of the eyes from people when I bring up the "minor" details. I finally dragged a couple of people to the granite Warehouses with me so they could see for themselves how difficult it is to pick granite when you have a million beautiful stones to chose from sitting in poorly lit conditions with no price tags on them. After that, I rested my case! As exciting as this all has been, it has also been as equally overwhelming. Like you, I so can't wait til it's over!! About the floor stain color - Can you create samples of each? The only way I'd be able to decide is to see it on the floor next to my cabinets and in different lighting. If you do make samples, make sure it's using the same wood you will be applying it to (diff woods pick up stain color differently).

Sorry it took me so long to get the pics but I wanted to wait until the sealer was dry so that the color was as true as possible. Our grout lines are less than 1/8", probably around 3/16". Basically we laid the pieces as close together as possible without them looking crooked. We used very inexpensive tile from Home Depot and so far the only downside has been that the pieces aren't exactly straight. Since we wanted virtually non-existent grout lines this made it very difficult to line them up so that all the corners were perfectly straight. My husband was so meticulous about it - picking and choosing pieces and turning them every which way to get the best lines. Anyhow... two of these pictures show pretty true to color but the closeup shot looks very gray (vs. the beige color that the tile actually is....). Tile: 18"x18" Ceramica DaVinci Safari ceramic floor tiles Grout: Polyblend unsanded grout in bone (#382) Sealer: 1st coat TileLab Grout & Tile Sealer, 2nd coat Miracle 511 Seal & Enhance One Step The 1st coast of sealer (TileLab) was a zero VOC product but any good done there was negated by the 2nd coat of sealer which was a traditional toxic product. However the Miracle 511 sealer is a very good product from a protection standpoint and hopefully it's not as toxic once it is dry. It sure was stinky going on! The color here is pretty close to what it looks like in person: This one shows the grout line but the color looks more gray than the beige it actually is: And this one shows a slightly closer view than the first. The color is pretty accurate:

Well you can, but if the paint police find out, I’ll disavow any knowledge of it ;-) You’re not really looking for a “brighter white,” you’re looking for a tile and paint combination with similar undertones. White Dove is a yellow white. If the tile you love makes this apparent, try a white with cooler undertones. Chantilly Lace is beautiful, and much cooler than the White Dove. It might be a great choice. White Dove Chantilly Lace