I agree that your choices will be driven by whether it's a guest space, whether you you have a specific tenant in mind (say a family member) or if you'll be renting to currently unknown and potentially changing tenants. If the occupant is unknown, you don't want to put too much personality into the space because your taste may not be their taste. If it's a guest space it's the opposite--nobody has to live with it for very long so quirky will be charming instead of "what were they thinking?" If you have a specific tenant in mind, keep their tastes in mind. The Design Around This threads have a huge array of designs, and there were specifically a couple of barn/rustic designs, on the white thread and the animal prints thread, I think. If you are on a budget, the formica thread has some great designs as well. I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen, But... Animal Prints Formica Patterns are coooool!

GeoKid, are the "mauve" chairs velvet or chintz? If they are chintz you can paint them. As for reupholstering them...I recently called to find out just how much it would cost to do two other wing chairs I have. The labor alone was $375 each chair. You can buy a new regular or even reclining wing chair by Lane or Lazyboy for about that price on sale. Anyway, if they are chintz and you want to paint them you might remember my recently painting a pair of chintz wing chairs...

I'm not sure this is a discussion I should jump into, because my mind is a jumble of 'ifs' (and a jumble this week, in general), like IF it goes with the style of the home and kitchen, and IF it coordinates nicely with other elements...and it's all personal opinion/judgment. A concern: I do worry about hearing things like putting it in the middle of an otherwise neutral field of backsplash, because I think it should relate to the rest of the backsplash...not just sit in the middle of something that's as plain as possible. That's a hard call, though, without seeing all the materials together. Worth the money or not: Such an internal thing for each person. I am terminally practical, but also artsy, so might splurge for something that I would LOVE each time I walked in the room, but whose price would not overshadow that love. I also understand the value of compromise, but again it so depends on the feelings of both people involved. Will DH complain for a few minutes, then forget about it while you LOVE it and him for the rest of your kitchen days? Or... Will you be just as happy to see something else for the money saved and to have a happy dh? Only his and your hearts know the answer to those things. If you're going to compromise, I think it'd be safer to NOT try to copy the exact look. I really wanted some beautiful painted tiles for my baking wall backsplash, and I wish I had the inspiration pic to show. But the colors I wanted didn't seem to exist...for any price that was anything close to reasonable. Instead I chose to do a pattern myself of small mosaics that gave me an intricate pattern and the richness of color I was after...Overall, a similar impression without being a copy of the painted. I'm not trying to say this is what you should do, just that I felt it was safer than trying too hard to get the look without spending the money for the 'real' thing. I still spent more for those colorful little mosaic marble tiles ($25/sf) than I would have OK'd as a price for tile anywhere else in the house...Because the color and overall look was crucial to my vision of that area. For the approx 15 sq ft area, and in the scheme of things, it was worth it to me. Plllog, in particular, has said a lot of things I agree with here, but these 2 things really stand out for me, and would be things I would have said: 1) There's thrifty, like not throwing away perfectly good bags that can be reused. Then there's penny wise/pound foolish. There is a difference between getting something cheap or at a good value. Value has to do with quality and how much it means to you for the price, a cost for the life, not just how many pennies you have left after leaving the cash register. 2) I would much rather do something bold and dynamic that I loved than ever be stuck with boring. YES! ;-) Best wishes. Most of us have had to make similar tough decisions (because 'pretty' is important, too) and completely understand the related...

Hey Tinker, I am in Sarasota and will be installing soapstone from Creative also. ARe you still happy with your soapstone? I am about a mile away from Der Dutchman. I am using B&B Cabinets though on Cattlemen. ARe you happy with the shaker style cabinets? Might do a white with pewter glaze.... Thanks for any advice or comments you can share.