cheryldee - we had thought about this for our kitchen, so I did a lot of reading about it. In regard to etching, it seems like it varies from slab to slab - some have an etching issue and some don't. And the degrees of etching seem to vary as well. It seems like you almost HAVE to get a piece from your exact slab to test it (or at the very least in your same lot) because it sounds as if the calcium content varies quite a bit. Definitely do a search for Bee's new kitchen (beekeeperswife) - she has some gorgeous Super White. And. Has. Etching. Even though the piece she was given (from a different lot than hers, as I understand) to test didn't etch. :( Best bet is to proceed very cautiously if you want this and aren't okay with etching. So many get this as an alternative to marble because they don't want the etching issues...but it's not a given that it won't etch. So, if you are okay with etching, you may do just as well going with a marble.

Reposting with some changes and options feedback please! Dissect, rip it apart, criticize, make suggestions I welcome and appreciate any and all feedback! This is a new house, havent even broken ground, so there are few limitations. I would prefer to keep the kitchen in the same footprint/dimensions to avoid big changes to overall plans, but obviously if someone spots a serious flaw I can absolutely change! Im putting the drawings (apologize for quality and handwriting) in line as most seem to prefer that, but also posting a link at the bottom for anyone who cant see the pix here (at work they dont load inline for me) or wants to see the full house plans. Changes made on all versions: - side grilling deck door moved closer to cooking and out of dining area (deck will either be shifted toward garage or enlarged so there are no stair/door issues) - screened porch door moved out of dining to great room - cooktop moved to wall - *for now* have decided to have single oven with MW above A couple things I didnt think to mention before about our location. Our lot is just over 4 acres, steeply sloping down to a creek and road to the north, which is where our best views are and why our full walkout and most windows face that side (top on the floor plans). Our home site provides the largest buffer between us and the slightly wooded mature subdivision to the left/west and the other newer patio home subdivision at the top of the hill to the south. It also puts us closer to the right/east edge of the property line, which runs parallel on the same side as the kitchen. Point being that a window on the kitchen wall may be more for light than view (possible future neighbors house). For this reason, I have also considered transom windows above the cabs instead of the large picture window behind the sink. Option #1 with fridge near pantry, MW/oven by deck Pros: - allows for "hearthlike" cooktop area focal point centered so it would be "framed" by pass thru when looking from great room - prep area zone fridge/sink, then cooking zone with cooktop/oven/MW/outdoor grill - fridge can bump into pantry to make counter depth - grocery unloading would happen closer to the garage and pantry/fridge close to each other - picture this workflow as fridge to sink to cooktop/oven/MW to serving at either table or island seating Cons: - DW location? - fridge and pantry freezer far from MW - fridge far from eating areas and both deck and porch - possible landing area issues for cooktop and MW/oven Option 1A: 1 big sink in island, no window Option 1B: big sink with big window, 2nd sink in island off center, since this is probably not exactly to scale, not sure if this would even work, if it does this is my current fave. Option #2 with fridge near deck, cooktop on pantry wall. It is based off suggestions from celcticmoon, so I hope I interpreted correctly. Again, probably not to scale for appliance/sink size. Pros: - cooktop is on wall - fridge is convenient to eating and both deck and porch - allows for sink on wall and big window - good landing space next to cooktop - convenient MW access for frozen dinner/pizza/etc. from pantry freezer - as said best by celcticmoon "Allows the MW snacking, fridge, serving, pass through activity to operate independently of the core work triangle of fridge, range, sink." Cons - fridge will stick out - possible landing area issues for cooktop and MW/oven - fridge far from MW - cooktop and MW/oven far from eating area, when cooking, back is to seating - groceries would have to be carried further and would imagine fridge groceries sorted out on island and everything else hauled back to pantry/freezer My main concern is that DH currently does most of the daily cooking so I personally dont have the greatest concept of practical workflow. Thinking back to my past habits, I enjoyed and regularly cooked only when I had kitchens I liked spending time in (my parents and one of my college apartments). They were both open, aesthetically pleasing and bright and at least *mostly*, even if not perfect, functional design. Of the ones where I wouldnt stay in long enough to cook, one was an unpleasant, icky, ugly place to be (college townhouse). The other was our last house where we remodeled the kitchen so it was pretty, but it was isolated with one smallish window. I tried to cook there at first, but felt antsy to rejoin the rest of the house. Our current rental kitchen is old, dark and isolated I spend as little time there as possible. My dream is to have a highly functional version of the open, bright, pretty kitchens. I know this probably sounds overly obvious, but I thought it important to note that, while I dont currently cook and need lots of help with the functional part, I do foresee both DH and I doing a lot of cooking in this new kitchen. Hope I havent rambled too much and thank you for reading. Thank you to celticmoon, bmorepanic and rhome410 for the previous suggestions and TIA to anyone who replies here!

Maple, thanks and thanks to everyone for their praises. The bricks were simply that I had run out of rocks and even chunks of concrete and had to block several traffic paths through the border in one go as a total embargo. The magenta flower sea is not Aster though looks very like them. It's Delosperma cooperi (Ice plant) which grows at a tremedous rate, is easy to chop back like fat noodles and can be planted from small sections. That border only has a few big rocks for show as no foxes now go onto the sea of various sedums. The border with all the bricks is at the first stage of groundcover growth and I've accelerated that by transferring some ice plant which is already spreading. I've been removing rocks and bricks where it's grown up to so far and that process will continue along with the flattest juniper here - Juniperus communis 'Goldschatz' (no 'Motherlode' in the UK sadly) and a multitude of sedums that I pick up every time I'm at a garden center. Eventually it'll just be good rocks but it's my USA only border and I want a dryish look for the Longaeva, Flexilis and Lasiocarpas. So there will be more rocks and I'll keep the groundcover back more than the other border. Mike, I was really bad at placing rocks to look natural and they always looked contrived. But this process has given a nice random element and I leave rocks where they've happened to sit well. The garden is very sloped so I use big boulders to make tiered planting spots. That again took some consideration but I'm happy with the efffect so far. I seem to have kept the deer out finally this year with a lot of barbed wire and many many thorn plants. It also works for house breakers that may want to venture up from the wood. I had to cut a hole in my fence to get out on a belly crawl to do my annual felling of trees that are volunteering in the wrong places and potential view blockers. That leaves the areas for brambles and thorn trees with the larger oaks and ash trees safely downslope enough to never rise up to become a screen. Elk, thankfully, we have none, if ever. I imagine they can do some sizeable destruction.

This reminds me of my rectangular foyer. I was wondering what you ended up doing. I’m sure it’s lovely!